As EU reins in Big Tech, new appeals center aims to offer users a better path to settle disputes

BRUSSELS (CN) — A new Dublin-based independent dispute settlement body is expected to decide on disputes between European users and major social media platforms like Facebook, TikTok and YouTube, the association announced Tuesday.

Formed as a certified out-of-court dispute settlement body, the Appeals Centre Europe will be established with backing from Meta’s own oversight board and funded through fees charged to social media companies for each case. The Coimisiún na Meán, Ireland’s media regulator, certified the group.

The new body will act in accordance with the EU’s Digital Services Act, under which illegal content like hate speech and disinformation on the largest online platforms are policed with the threat of fines up to 6% of companies’ global turnover.

Decisions would, for example, center around whether to take down or leave published content a user believes is hate speech or incitement to violence.

A team of digital experts will conduct a human review of each case within 90 days and determine whether the respective platforms’ decisions align with their content guidelines.

“The body will initially decide cases relating to Facebook, TikTok and YouTube, aiming to include more social media platforms over time,” the board said in a statement.

However, under the EU act’s rules, providers of online platforms can refuse to engage with such dispute settlement bodies, and those cannot impose a binding dispute settlement either.

Meta’s oversight board, often dubbed a quasi Supreme Court for the company’s content moderation decisions, are providing a one-time grant for the center as well as its inaugural CEO, Thomas Hughes, who had served as the director of Meta’s Oversight Board.

“We want users to have the choice to raise a dispute with a body that is independent of governments and companies and focused on ensuring platforms’ content policies are fairly and impartially applied,” Hughes said in a statement.

“The center will offer users an impartial, swift and affordable alternative to courts, and improve the accountability and transparency of social media platforms by generating data that helps identify systemic risks,” he said.

The body will have a board of seven non-executive directors.

The center plans to start receiving disputes from users before the end of the year.