Melina Lepida
On 28 May, the dispute settlement body, Appeals Centre Europe, released their latest Transparency Report, revealing new insights about hate speech on social media.
In 70% of the 1,400 cases where the Appeals Centre reviewed platforms’ decisions to leave up content reported as hate speech, they disagreed with the platform. These cases included hateful content targeting religious minorities, Roma people, migrants, and LGBTQI+ communities.
Recently, the Appeals Centre also started taking disputes about new areas, including fraud and scams, and child sexual exploitation.
Appeals Centre Europe is an independent, non-profit organisation that helps people in the EU challenge social media moderation decisions, such as removed posts, suspended accounts, or harmful content that platforms failed to remove. It acts as an external appeals body for major platforms including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Threads, and Pinterest. Its decisions are non-binding, but platforms must engage with the process.
The organisation was created in October 2024, in response to the EU’s European Union Digital Services Act (DSA), which gives users the right to an independent review of platform decisions without having to go to court. Appeals Centre Europe is certified under the DSA as an official out-of-court dispute settlement body.
To challenge a social media platform’s decision, go to www.appealscentre.eu.
