STOCKHOLM: Social media users in the European Union will be able to make complaints against Facebook, ByteDance’s TikTok and Alphabet’s YouTube over content moderation to a new independent body set up in Ireland.
The body, supported by Meta Platforms’ Oversight Board Trust and certified by Ireland’s media regulator, will act as an out-of-court dispute settlement body under the EU Digital Services Act (DSA).
Until now, individuals and organizations using social media have had limited options to challenge the content decisions of social media companies without going to court.
Appeals Center Europe will start before the end of the year. It will initially decide cases relating to Facebook, ByteDance’s TikTok and Alphabet’s YouTube, and will include more social media platforms over time.
“We want users to have the choice to raise a dispute to a body that is independent from governments and companies, and focused on ensuring platforms’ content policies are fairly and impartially applied,” said Thomas Hughes, inaugural CEO of the Appeals Center and a former executive director for freedom of expression rights group Article 19.
With a team of experts, the new body will review each case within 90 days, and decide whether platforms’ decisions are consistent with their content policies, it said in a statement.
“We welcome the certification of new independent bodies by the Irish regulator,” said Thomas Regnier, a spokesman for the European Commission. “We will support the effective and uniform development of this system across the whole EU to give all EU users stronger rights online.”
Dublin-based Appeals Center, which has a one-time grant from the Oversight Board Trust, will be funded through fees charged to social media companies for each case. Users who raise a dispute will pay a nominal fee, which will be refunded if a decision is in their favor.
However, under the rules of DSA, online platforms may refuse to engage with such a dispute settlement body and it won’t have the power to impose a binding settlement on the parties.
The Appeals Center will have a board of seven non-executive directors.
New body to handle disputes between EU users and Facebook, TikTok, YouTube
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New body to handle disputes between EU users and Facebook, TikTok, YouTube
- Until now, individuals and organizations using social media have had limited options to challenge the content decisions of social media companies without going to court
Paris exhibition marks 200 years of Le Figaro and the enduring power of the press
- The exhibition celebrated the bicentennial of Le Figaro, offering visitors a rare opportunity to step inside the newspaper’s vast historical archive
PARIS: One of France’s most influential newspapers marked a major milestone this month with a landmark exhibition beneath the soaring glass nave of the Grand Palais, tracing two centuries of journalism, literature and political debate.
Titled 1826–2026: 200 years of freedom, the exhibition celebrated the bicentennial of Le Figaro, offering visitors a rare opportunity to step inside the newspaper’s vast historical archive. Held over three days in mid-January, the free exhibition drew large crowds eager to explore how the title has both chronicled and shaped modern French history.
More than 300 original items were displayed, including historic front pages, photographs, illustrations and handwritten manuscripts. Together, they charted Le Figaro’s evolution from a 19th-century satirical publication into a leading national daily, reflecting eras of revolution, war, cultural change and technological disruption.
The exhibition unfolded across a series of thematic spaces, guiding visitors through defining moments in the paper’s past — from its literary golden age to its role in political debate and its transition into the digital era. Particular attention was paid to the newspaper’s long association with prominent writers and intellectuals, underscoring the close relationship between journalism and cultural life in France.
Beyond the displays, the program extended into live journalism. Public editorial meetings, panel discussions and film screenings invited audiences to engage directly with editors, writers and media figures, turning the exhibition into a forum for debate about the future of the press and freedom of expression.
Hosted at the Grand Palais, the setting itself reinforced the exhibition’s ambition: to place journalism firmly within the country’s cultural heritage. While the exhibition has now concluded, the bicentennial celebrations continue through special publications and broadcasts, reaffirming Le Figaro’s place in France’s public life — and the enduring relevance of a free and questioning press in an age of rapid change.
