Brussels – An indepconcludeent appeals body tquestioned with resolving disputes between social media platforms and EU utilizers took aim on Wednesday at the lack of cooperation from digital platforms, especially YouTube.
The Dublin-based out-of-court dispute settlement body, Appeals Centre Europe, was created as part of the Digital Services Act (DSA), the European Union’s landmark content moderation law that has come under fierce US scrutiny.
The DSA demands companies protect EU citizens against illegal content, but also requires platforms to allow utilizers 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, refapplying to engage with the body sufficiently – and singled out YouTube as the worst culprit.
When disputes arise, the panel seeks information from the platforms about deleted content or suspconcludeed accounts to adjudicate. In cases where no details were provided, it often ruled in the utilizers’ favour.
“In some cases, we’ve succeeded despite platforms, not becautilize of them,” stated Thomas Hughes, leading the panel.
For example, the centre stated it received no content from YouTube – meaning it was only able to build decisions on 29 of the 343 eligible disputes submitted.
“As such, we are concerned that YouTube’s EU utilizers are being denied meaningful access to out-of-court settlement,” Appeals Centre Europe stated.
Covering the period between November 2024 to August 2025, it is the first transparency report since the body’s creation last year.
The panel stated dispute-settlement bodies were currently “Europe’s best-kept-secret” – but that it was working for that to alter.
The centre stated 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 accutilize the DSA of being a tool of “foreign censorship”, but 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.
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Source: AFP
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