Your rights in the EU:

The Digital Services Act gives you the opportunity to report content on a platform’s reporting channel. Whenever you see potentially illegal content, no matter if you are personally attacked by it or not, you should start reporting it. This way, you make sure online platforms are held accountable which can lead to making the internet a safer place.

You can report illegal content as well as problematic content that is violating the internal platform rules. The latter can, for example, be cases of disinformation or hatred that platforms claim to not allow based on their terms and conditions.

This is what we recommend:

Feel free to report any content that looks potentially illegal to you as this may be subject to removal according to the terms of service of the online platforms. This also applies to incidents of disinformation that can generally also be reported with the reporting channels offered by all platforms. You don’t have to be sure that the content is illegal as it is not your task to decide that.

Nice to know:

The Digital Services Act primarily refers to illegal content, but it does not specify what kind of content is illegal. Therefore, the definition of illegal content is based on the law of the respective member state. The platform then has to remove the content if it proves to be illegal. It may apply geoblocking, which means that the content is only removed in some member states if it is not illegal everywhere in the EU. Moreover, platforms may not be obliged to apply stricter rules than those applicable in the member state where their headquarters or their legal representative is located.

If you think that your profile or content was blocked wrongfully, you should use the internal complaint mechanism offered by the platforms. You can also use the out-of-court settlement mechanism or turn to a court to have the decision overruled.

You are not powerless even if a platform does not answer your report, takes too long for the answer or rejects your report. You still have different options to request the platform’s reply or to have the platform’s response reviewed. Usually, you have to be a registered user if you want to use these remedies.

1. Use the internal complaint mechanism 

You can use the internal complaint mechanism to get a second review of your report of content.

You can initiate the internal complaint mechanism up to 6 months after you have received the information about the rejection of your report. You can submit your complaint electronically and can file this complaint free of charge.

2. Turn to civil society organisations 

If your report was not successful, you can turn to specific civil society organisations for support. These organisations are called trusted flaggers and can support you with the reporting by using a privileged reporting channel. Trusted flagger organisations are assigned by the Digital Services Coordinator of your member state and will be there to help you. A list of trusted flagger organisations will be published by the European Commission in a publicly available database in February 2024.

HateAid regularly supports users in reporting illegal and harmful content. As an organisation specialised in tackling online violence we can help. Feel free to get in touch with us via legal@hateaid.org.

3. Call for out-of-court settlement 

For an independent assessment of your case you can seek an out-of-court settlement. An out-of-court settlement can be arranged by an independent institution, for example a nonprofit organisation or a law firm. The European Commission will publish a list of out-of-court dispute settlement institutions on their website. The procedure should not take longer than 90 days.

4. Complain to the Digital Services Coordinator 

You can complain to the Digital Services Coordinator whenever you feel that you witnessed or even experienced any violation of the Digital Services Act.

This is what we recommend: 

• Choose a body that operates in a language that you know. You can use any out-of-court settlement institution, irrespective of the member state where it is located. Still, these institutions don’t have to offer their services in all of the official languages of the EU.
• The out-of-court settlement does not only apply the law of any member state but can also consider other rules, like codes of conduct.

Nice to know: 

• The decision of the out-of-court settlement body is not binding for the platforms.
• The out-of-court settlement institution self-declares rules of procedure.
• Costs might occur if you lose your case. These costs include your own expenses (for legal counselling etc.) and possibly a small additional fee. If you win, the platform has to pay the costs of the procedures as well as costs for legal representation that may have occurred.

Yes, you can claim your rights turning to a court. The new rules of the Digital Services Act do not change that. But: if your issue is about the removal of illegal content, you need to report the abusive content to the platform before turning to court.

It is no precondition or advantage having sought an out-of-court settlement or having used other complaint options before you go to court. It will also bring no disadvantage if you have used complaint options or not. If an attack against you qualifies as illegal content and the law of your member state allows it, you can turn to the competent court anytime.

Considering the cost risk of court proceedings and the fact that out-of-court mechanisms are an additional means to lower thresholds, it makes sense to start the out-of-court settlement first and decide after that if you still want to turn to court.

Nice to know:

• Usually, court proceedings cause a cost risk that varies from country to country.
• A lawsuit has to be filed in one of the official languages of your member state. Additional costs may occur for translation of documents to make them accessible if a platform has its headquarters in a member state with another official language than your member state.
• For considering which content is illegal and therefore subject to a lawsuit, the law of your member state is relevant.
• In most jurisdictions, as a user you can only turn to a court for instances that personally affect your rights. For cases of general violations of your rights based on the Digital Services Act you should consider an official complaint to the competent authorities (usually this will be the Digital Services Coordinator).

The Digital Services Coordinator is in charge of the coordination of platform oversight on member state level. This institution is responsible for investigating violations of the Digital Services Act and for drawing consequences. It can also place orders to end violation or sanction platforms.

Each member state has one or more competent authorities for oversight of the Digital Services Act. One of these authorities is the Digital Services Coordinator. These institutions will be designated by February 2024 at the latest.

The power of the Digital Services Coordinator depends on the platforms that you are complaining about. Very large online platforms are overseen by the European Commission. Therefore, the Digital Services Coordinator has more influence on the smaller platforms.

Examples for very large online platforms:
Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, LinkedIn, Youtube

Examples for smaller platforms:
Telegram, Tinder, Twitch, Discord, Mastodon, Pornhub, Etsy, reddit

Yes, you can get in touch with the platforms directly. Platforms have to assign and provide an easy-to-access electronic contact point. That means you should not have to search for it. The contact point must be somewhere close to the contact section of each online platform.

Nice to know:

You cannot count on the electronic point of contact to deliver documents that are meant to prepare or conduct a lawsuit in a legally secure way. Most member states do not have contracts with online platforms about the electronic delivery of documents.