European Union residents will have a new point of contact for resolving disputes with Facebook, TikTok and YouTube. A new, certified appeals center will soon receive complaints about content moderation decisions.

The concept is similar to Meta's Oversight Board, which influences content moderation decisions on Facebook, Instagram and Threads. Meta believes other social media companies should use its oversight board, even though there is little incentive for them to do so. The European Digital Services Act (DSA) has changed this calculation somewhat, as it allows for the creation of out-of-court dispute resolution bodies (ODS) that can help resolve user complaints.

And although the Appeal Center is a separate entity, there are some notable connections between the two organizations. The new appeal center is headed by who was previously CEO of the Oversight Board Administration. The Oversight Board Trust, which oversees the board's budget, also helped fund the new appeals center with a “one-time grant,” according to the report from its Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Stephen Neal. And the first non-executive Trustees of the Appeal Center are also Trustees on the Oversight Board.

The appeal center expects to be operational “by the end of 2024.” Then individuals and organizations can file an appeal through its website. Users who want to appeal a moderation decision by Facebook, YouTube or TikTok must pay a “protective fee,” which will be refunded if the group rules in their favor, according to information posted on.

However, it is not clear exactly how this process will work or how many cases the group will be able to handle. Meta's Oversight Board, which has been in existence for years, has received nearly 400,000 appeals and issued them in 2023 alone. The Appeals Center could also end up being less influential than the Oversight Board. A statement from the Irish media regulator notes that “the decisions of the ODS panels are not binding”. Still, it could increase visibility of the types of content moderation issues that often frustrate users and provide hope that their situation may be reconsidered.