Brussels (Belgium) (AFP) – An independent appeals body tasked with resolving disputes between social media platforms and EU users on Wednesday criticised a lack of cooperation from digital platforms, especially YouTube. The Dublin-based out-of-court dispute settlement body, Appeals Centre Europe (ACE), was created as part of the European Union’s landmark content moderation law, the Digital Services Act (DSA), which has come under fierce US scrutiny.
The DSA demands companies protect EU citizens against illegal content, but also requires platforms to allow users to challenge any content decisions — such as account or post removals — via an out-of-court mechanism. The centre, however, found that platforms including Meta’s Facebook and Instagram as well as TikTok often dragged their feet, refusing to engage with the body sufficiently — and singled out YouTube as the worst culprit. YouTube “strongly” disputed the report’s findings since the body had not reviewed all the content flagged.
When disputes arise, the panel seeks information from the platforms about deleted content or suspended accounts to adjudicate. In cases where no details were provided, it often ruled in the users’ favour. “In some cases, we’ve succeeded despite platforms, not because of them,” said Thomas Hughes, leading the panel. For example, the centre said it received no content from YouTube — meaning it was only able to make decisions on 29 of the 343 eligible disputes submitted. “As such, we are concerned that YouTube’s EU users are being denied meaningful access to out-of-court settlement,” Appeals Centre Europe said.
A YouTube spokesperson countered that “ACE has not put in place the privacy safeguards necessary for us to share the user data they need to resolve disputes about content moderation decisions.” YouTube also said it had its own appeals system. Covering the period between November 2024 to August 2025, it is the first transparency report since the body’s creation last year. The panel said dispute-settlement bodies were currently “Europe’s best-kept-secret” — but that it was working for that to change.
The centre said it received nearly 10,000 disputes and has already issued around 1,500 decisions in more than 3,300 cases that were within its scope. Other platforms under the centre’s scrutiny include Pinterest and Meta-owned Threads. The DSA is currently in Washington’s crosshairs. US President Donald Trump’s allies accuse the DSA of being a tool of “foreign censorship”. The EU rejects such accusations. There are currently multiple EU probes ongoing under the DSA into platforms including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and tech billionaire Elon Musk’s X.
© 2024 AFP
