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Certified by Ireland’s media watchdog, the Appeals Centre Europe will allow users to challenge the content decisions of social media companies.
A new independent body has been established to address complaints and disputes raised by online users against social media platforms.
The Appeals Centre Europe (ACE) was certified today (8 October) by Coimisiún na Meán, Ireland’s media regulator.
ACE has been set up as an out-of-court dispute settlement body under the EU Digital Services Act (DSA).
Its aim is to decide if a social media platform’s decision is consistent with its content policies, including disputes relating to the removal of a user’s content or the suspension of their account.
The centre said it will operate with an in-house team of experts to resolve disputes, applying human review to every case. Complex cases will be reviewed by specialists with expertise in specific regions, languages or policy areas.
The ACE will start to assess cases from users before the end of the year and will begin with disputes relating to Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.
“As a new body under the Digital Services Act, the Appeals Centre represents a turning point in the relationship between users and social media companies,” ACE’s website says.
“Until now, users have had limited options to challenge the content decisions of social media companies in a swift, affordable and straightforward manner, which the Appeals Centre will provide.”
Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland this morning, ACE’s CEO Thomas Hughes said it’s an “exciting development” that “empowers users to have greater control over content that they see online”.
ACE was set up using funding provided through a one-time grant from the Oversight Board Trust – an independent review board set up by Meta to oversee content decisions on its platforms.
Hughes said the ACE is an entirely separate entity from the Oversight Board, and that it will be funded purely from fees that are charged to platforms in connection to each case in the future.
Social media users who appeal will pay a nominal fee of €5, which will be refunded if the ACE’s decision is in their favour.
Meta’s oversight board members operate independently of Meta and the board has called for several changes to the platform due to inadequate policies since its establishment.
However, its efficacy has been called into question, as recommendations are not binding and many of these recommendations are still ‘in progress’ according to Meta.
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