The Digital Services Act is the EU regulation on how platforms and hosts handle illegal content, including a duty to act on notices and to explain decisions, refusals included.
Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 has applied in full since 17 February 2024. Article 16 requires hosting services to offer an easy electronic way to report illegal content, to process notices in a timely, diligent, non-arbitrary and objective manner, and to tell the person who reported it what was decided and what redress is available. Online platforms must also run an internal complaint system that can be used for at least six months after a decision (Article 20) and give access to certified out-of-court dispute settlement bodies (Article 21).
The DSA does not itself define what is illegal; that comes from EU and national law, such as defamation, privacy, consumer or copyright rules. Very large online platforms and search engines, with more than 45 million monthly users in the EU, have additional duties, are supervised by the European Commission and can be fined up to 6% of global annual turnover.
In practice
For content on a platform used in the EU, a DSA notice turns a report into a formal legal notice that the provider must assess and answer. If the platform rejects it, the decision and its reasons give you a basis for an internal complaint, an out-of-court dispute settlement body, or a complaint to the national Digital Services Coordinator. The notice should explain precisely why the content is illegal and include the exact URLs.
Source: Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (Digital Services Act) ↗
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Related terms
- Takedown notice — A takedown notice is a formal written request asking a platform, host or search engine to remove specific content because it breaks the law or the provider's own rules.
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