The social media appeals body hears disputes from people living in Ireland and the wider EU.
Dublin-based Appeals Centre Europe (ACE) has today issued more than 150 decisions related to social media platforms Facebook and Tik Tok. Certified by Ireland’s media watchdog Coimisiún na Meán, ACE is an independent body established to address complaints raised by online users in the EU, against social media platforms.
Founded as an out-of-court settlement body under the EU Digital Services Act, ACE’s goal is to determine if a social media platform’s own decisions are inconsistent with the rules laid out by its content policies, for example the reasons behind why a user may have their content suspended or removed.
In 77 out of 141 disputes related to content on Facebook, ACE sided with the user who submitted the complaint, overturning Meta’s initial decision to leave up or remove the content. Since first beginning operations in November of 2024, the organisation has received more than 1,500 complaints from people based in the EU, looking to challenge decisions set down by YouTube, Facebook and Tik Tok.
In relation to Ireland specifically roughly 70 disputes were submitted, which, when considered on a ‘per capita’ basis, makes it the second highest figure amongst EU member states. The main areas of concern for Ireland-based users were harassment and bullying (31pc), hate speech (19pc) and dangerous organisations and individuals (15pc).
The highest number of disputes have come from Italy, France and Germany, primarily rule violations in regards to adult nudity, bullying or harassment and restricted goods and services, such as drugs and alcohol. So far, 76pc of all disputes have been related to Facebook, 21pc concern Tik Tok and 3pc are about YouTube.
Whilst ACE’s rulings are non-binding, social media platforms must engage with dispute settlement bodies and reportedly, Meta has already begun to implement changes based on the group’s decisions. More information on this will be issued in ACE’s first transparency report mid-year.
Commenting, the CEO of Appeals Centre Europe, Thomas Hughes, said: “If your content is unfairly removed, or if you see harmful content which you think should be removed, do something about it. Go to appealscentre.eu, submit a dispute and take control of what you see and post online. Many people and organisations are already doing this and we’ve received 1,500 disputes from across the EU.
“But this is only the tip of the iceberg when compared to the number of content moderation actions these platforms are making. Platforms must do more to ensure that their users know about and can benefit from bodies like the Appeals Centre.”
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