Signal EU's two AI-content labelling regimes (DSA, AI Act) leave open when media counts as "AI-generated enough" to disclose

Summary

The paper examines how European platform and AI governance increasingly relies on transparency duties to address synthetic and manipulated media. Under the Digital Services Act, very large online platforms and search engines may use prominent markings and recipient-facing indication tools as systemic-risk mitigation measures. Under the AI Act, providers must support machine-readable marking, while deployers must disclose deepfakes and certain AI-generated or manipulated public-interest text, subject to statutory qualifications. The extended abstract asks when labelling functions as a meaningful regulatory response to synthetic media rather than a box-ticking exercise. It is a preprint posted to arXiv's cs.CY category on September 7, 2026.