Digital Services Act: EU network facilitates complaints against Facebook & Co.

Seven organizations launched a European network of out-of-court dispute resolution bodies under the Digital Services Act (DSA) on Thursday. With the DSA, the EU legislator has created a new right for users in the member states to have decisions made by platforms independently reviewed by a mediation body. Operators of large social networks often cause resentment among those affected with their decisions on what still falls under freedom of expression or the terms of use on their platforms. Users can lodge an objection to this with independent complaints centers.

The German company User Rights, which has been certified by the Federal Network Agency, is part of the new network. The Appeals Center Europe (ACE), based in Ireland, has been accepting submissions against the removal or keeping online of content on Facebook, TikTok and YouTube since November. It is mainly financed by fees charged to the social media companies for each case (95 euros). The ACE has not yet asked users to pay. If the arbitration board decides in favor of the platform, users will be asked to contribute 5 euros to the costs in future.

The alliance also includes Adroit from Malta, the Central European Appeals Hub from Slovakia, Impress Dispute Resolutions (Ireland), MFSD (Italy) and the Hungarian platform Vitarendező Tanács. These have either already been certified as out-of-court dispute resolution bodies by the relevant coordinators under the DSA or have applied for the relevant authorization.

Holding platforms accountable

The aims of the network are to exchange information and ideas on mediation work and to discuss proven technical standards. The participants also hope to simplify interaction with platforms and regulatory authorities through cooperation. They also want to better educate the general public about the new user tool.

Considering the billions of decisions that platforms make every year, it is not surprising that some of them are wrong, according to the network. Until recently, it was only possible to ask the operator to review the decision or go to court. The new option for out-of-court dispute resolution will help to "hold platforms accountable and ensure greater transparency in their decision-making".

In the first quarter of 2025 alone, the first four certified bodies in the network received over 4,500 complaints from users, according to the company. The ACE alone has received more than 1,500 submissions to date, and by the beginning of March had reached a decision on around 150 of them, with the majority ruling against the operators, in particular Facebook and its parent company Meta. Under the DSA, large social networks are obliged to make their own dispute resolution website available and to link to it and to an EU Commission portal on arbitration centers in their decisions.

(nie)