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Appeals Centre to decide on social-media disputes

The Appeals Centre Europe has begun operations in Dublin and will hear disputes about the content decisions of social-media companies.

The independent regulatory body has said that this will provide an alternative to legal routes to redress.

The Appeals Centre is a certified, independent, out-of-court dispute-settlement body under the EU Digital Services Act (DSA).

Its certification is granted by media regulator Coimisiún na Meán.

Human review

It will apply human review to resolve disputes.

Complex cases will be reviewed by specialists with expertise in specific regions, languages, or policy areas.

Staff will decide whether decisions are consistent with content policies, including any rules or exceptions that reference human rights.

It will settle disputes relating to Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube, and is currently recruiting.

The Appeals Centre will be located in Dublin and will initially have a staff of 25 people, rising to 40 by the middle of next year.

Decisions made by the new centre will be non-binding, however.

The start-up funding for the Appeals Centre has been provided through a one-time grant from the Oversight Board Trust.

The Oversight Board was established by Facebook parent company Meta to oversee content decisions on its platforms.

Its former director Thomas Hughes is to lead the new body.

Users who make a complaint will pay a 'nominal fee' of €5, which is refunded if they win their dispute.

Dispute landscape

Taylor Wessing Ireland is acting for the Appeals Centre Europe, and has stated that the body will “empower social users with more choice and transform the dispute landscape in relation to online media platforms in Ireland”.

Lawyer Dannie Hanna said: “Taylor Wessing Ireland welcomes the establishment of the Appeals Centre Europe as an important milestone in online regulation and the dispute landscape, placing greater onus on social media companies to ensure the decisions they make are consistent, robust and transparent.”

Lawyer Ross McNaughton said that navigating the line between protecting freedom of speech and preserving user safety was "an incredibly important societal aim".

The body will begin receiving disputes from social-media users before the end of this year.

The Appeals Centre will make decisions within 90 days, as set out by the DSA.

The centre will have a board of seven non-executive directors, three of whom are also trustees of the Oversight Board.

Four other non-executive directors will have no relationship to any social-media company.