Social media users in Europe get forum to challenge content decisions

Social media users in the European Union will soon have a new forum to challenge decisions by platforms to remove posts and videos for breaking their rules or leave up others that may violate them.

An out of court dispute settlement body named the Appeals Centre Europe said Tuesday it has been certified by Irish regulators to act as a referee on content moderation disputes across the 27-nation EU, starting with cases involving Facebook, YouTube and TikTok.

The centre is similar to Meta's Oversight Board, a quasi-independent body set up in 2020 that acts like a supreme court for thorny decisions about content moderation issues on Facebook, Instagram and Threads submitted by users around the world.

Under the EU's digital rulebook known as the Digital Services Act, or DSA, tech companies and social media platforms are required to work with dispute settlement bodies and comply with any decisions they make.

EU officials in Brussels wanted to give EU citizens a way to challenge any ...