Digital services, the European digital single market and European media regulation are far from being conflict-free from an economic point of view, easily contested from a regulatory angle and are even considered areas that could decide national elections from a political point of view. At the same time, the media (content) market is a multi-faceted economic sector with identifiable and conventional market failures, is constantly changing and matters of fundamental rights often distort perhaps straightforward economic considerations.

Accelerated technological developments in recent years have incentivised a regulatory framework in the EU and its Member States that is both disciplined and responsive. The EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) and the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) represent this: together, depending on and referring to each other. Despite their obvious similarities, an analysis of these legislation from a media-centric approach has not yet been undertaken. The present study aims to fill this gap: we analyse how the regulations are interlinked.