EU residents will have a new place to settle disputes with Facebook, TikTok and YouTube. A new appeals center certified by Irish regulators will soon begin accepting complaints about content moderation decisions.
The concept is similar to Meta’s Oversight Board, which considers content moderation decisions at Facebook, Instagram and Threads. Meta has long suggested that other social media companies should use its Oversight Board, although there has been little incentive for them to do so. Europe’s Digital Services Act (DSA) changed that calculus somewhat, as it enabled the creation of out-of-court dispute settlement (ODS) bodies that have the ability to help resolve user complaints.
And while the appeals center is a separate entity, there are some notable connections between the two organizations. The new appeals center will be led by Thomas Hughes, who was previously CEO of the Oversight Board Administration. The Oversight Board Trust, which oversees the board’s budget, also helped fund the new Appeals Center with a “one-off grant,” said Stephen Neal, its chair of trustees. And, the Appeals Center’s first non-executive trustee is also a trustee of the Oversight Board.
The Appeals Center says it hopes to be operational by “late 2024,” at which time individuals and organizations will be able to request appeals through its website. According to information posted on its website, users wishing to appeal moderation decisions from Facebook, YouTube or TikTok will have to pay a “nominal fee,” which will be refunded if the group rules in their favor.
However, it’s unclear how the process will work or how many cases the group will be able to take on. Meta’s Oversight Board, which has been operating for several years, received about 400,000 appeals and issued only 53 decisions in 2023. The Appeals Center may also be less influential than the Oversight Board.
A press release from Ireland’s media regulator states that “the decisions of ODS bodies are not binding.” Still, it could raise the visibility of the types of content moderation issues that often frustrate users and give some hope that their position might be reconsidered.