A new body has been launched to resolve appeals against policy violation decisions made by social media companies.
The Appeals Centre Europe will be based in Dublin and will hear disputes from people and organisations in Ireland and across the EU.
The body will initially decide cases relating to Facebook, TikTok and YouTube, and is aiming to include more social media platforms over time.
It will hear complaints about decisions by platforms relating to issues such as the removal of content and the suspension of users’ accounts.
The Appeals Centre has been certified by the media regulator Coimisiún na Meán as an out-of-court dispute settlement (ODS) body under the EU’s set of online safety rules, the Digital Services Act (DSA).
Decisions made by the new centre will be non-binding.
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 social media company Meta to oversee content decisions on its platforms.
The Oversight Board is funded by Meta through an irrevocable trust and the members of the board operate independently of Meta.
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Once launched, the new Appeals Centre will be funded through fees charged to social media companies for each case.
Users who raise a dispute will pay what is described as a ‘nominal fee’ of €5, which is refunded if the centre finds in their favour.
The Appeals Centre said it will operate as an independent regulatory body that will provide an alternative to often costly and time-consuming legal routes to redress.
The centre said it will provide an impartial, swift and cost-effective service that is independent of both companies and governments.
It will decide whether platforms’ decisions are consistent with their content policies, including any rules, principles or exceptions applied to those policies with reference to human rights.
The centre said it will operate with an in-house team of experts who will review each case.
It will also generate data that reveals patterns that help identify systemic risks.
The former Director of the Oversight Board Administration, Thomas Hughes, is taking on a new role as the inaugural CEO of the Appeals Centre.
“The emerging dispute settlement landscape in the European Union has enormous potential to empower people and communities by allowing them to challenge content decisions on social media platforms,” said Mr Hughes.
“Access to independent, expert, swift and affordable redress is core to upholding people’s rights and pursuing greater accountability and transparency of social media platforms.”
“We want users to have the choice to raise a dispute to a body that is independent from governments and companies, and focused on ensuring platforms’ content policies are fairly and impartially applied,” he added.
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.
The body will begin receiving disputes from social media users before the end of this year.
The Appeals Centre will make decisions within the 90-day timeframe set out in the DSA but it said in most cases it will happen much more quickly.
The centre will have a board of seven non-executive directors.
The first three non-executive directors include individuals who, among other directorships, are also trustees of the Oversight Board.
They will be joined by four additional non-executive directors with no relationship to any social media company or any entity funded by a social media company