STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Amazon has disclosed that it has more than 181 million users in the European Union and employs over 150,000 people directly in the region. This information was provided in the company’s first transparency report as mandated by the EU Digital Services Act (DSA).
Under the Digital Services Act (DSA), which was implemented in August, platforms and search engines categorized as very large online platforms (VLOP) are subject to new regulations concerning content moderation, user privacy, and transparency. To be labeled as a VLOP, companies must have over 45 million users in the EU.
Amazon has contested its inclusion in this group, asserting that it is not the largest retailer in any of the EU countries where it operates. The transparency report, however, reveals that Germany is the most significant market for Amazon in terms of its store, with over 60 million monthly active users. France follows with 35 million users.
Across Europe, Amazon maintains corporate offices in 50 cities and operates 250 logistics centers, indicating its substantial presence in the region.
During the first half of 2023, the company took 274 million content-related actions on its own initiative to remove content that violated its policies or other forms of non-illegal content.
Furthermore, in the same period, Amazon received 8,863 legal requests from EU governments seeking information on its service’s users.
Supantha Mukherjee reporting; Sharon Singleton editing.
