Get an overview of the legal regulations that apply to your HSP. For example, the TCO Regulation and the Digital Services Act are relevant throughout the EU. There may be country-specific regulations as well as requirements for other topics relevant to your HSP outside of terrorist content. If you have employed contacts or lawyers, it is often advisable to exchange with them in order to determine which regulations (apart from the TCO Regulation you are dealing with here) apply to your HSP.

Think about what the objectives of your transparency report are. Key questions that can help you with this are: Do you simply ‘only’ want to fulfil your legal obligations, or do you also want to address other topics and your commitment to them? Who do you want to reach, i.e. which target group makes sense for your HSP (e.g. political actors, users, financiers)? How often do you want to publish transparency reports and what is the best time for your individual financial year?

Determine which data you are going to include in the transparency report. On the one hand, ability is relevant for this, i.e. what data is available or for which is it feasible that you can collect it in the future? On the other hand, the must is decisive, i.e.: what legal requirements do you have to meet and what data is necessary for this? You can find out what information and data you need to include in accordance with the TCO Regulation in the next subchapter.

While creating the transparency report, make sure that clear and concise language is used. This aids engagement with and comprehension of complex material. Language should be further adapted to the readership envisaged.

Provide your readers with contextual information and explanations. Such explanations enable users to better understand the way your HSP operates and the reasons as to why it (perhaps) provides a more detailed transparency report than ‘just’ a report meeting only the minimum regulatory requirements.

When scheduling a transparency report, incorporate rounds of feedback into the production timeline. Regular feedback offering corrections to the report’s content and language can be valuable for all actors involved, especially those tasked with preparing the report.

Think about the languages in which you want to publish the transparency report and create appropriate translations. Also determine where it should be accessible, i.e. where on your website. In addition, you can also consider including the transparency report in various communication materials to help it gain more attention. This could include embedding it on your website, sending it out in email newsletters, or sharing it on social media.

When the first transparency report has been completed, you have already built the foundation that will make the following one easier given that you have already created a template. The process for collecting relevant data throughout the year and organising it to make it readily retrievable will make the production of the next transparency report easier and less time- and resource-intensive.

Be open to changes and adjustments. If you receive external feedback, consider incorporating it into the next transparency report if appropriate. However, relevant feedback may not only be external. After publication, HSP can also take a critical look at the previous transparency report, the communication around it and reactions to it, by considering press statements or other relevant sources. Both internal and external feedback can identify where there may be scope for improvement.