- France mourns Mayotte victims amid uncertainy over government
- UK economy stagnant in third quarter in fresh setback
- Sweden says China denied request for prosecutors to probe ship linked to cut undersea cables
- African players in Europe: Salah leads Golden Boot race after brace
- Global stock markets edge higher as US inflation eases rate fears
- German far-right AfD to march in city hit by Christmas market attack
- Ireland centre Henshaw signs IRFU contract extension
- Bangladesh launches $5bn graft probe into Hasina's family
- US probes China chip industry on 'anticompetitive' concerns
- Biden commutes sentences for 37 of 40 federal death row inmates
- Clock ticks down on France government nomination
- 'Devastated' Australian tennis star Purcell provisionally suspended for doping
- Mozambique on edge as judges rule on disputed election
- Mobile cinema brings Tunisians big screen experience
- Philippines says to acquire US Typhon missile system
- Honda and Nissan to launch merger talks
- Police arrest suspect who set woman on fire in New York subway
- China vows 'cooperation' over ship linked to severed Baltic Sea cables
- Australian tennis star Purcell provisionally suspended for doping
- Asian markets track Wall St rally as US inflation eases rate fears
- Luxury Western goods line Russian stores, three years into sanctions
- Wallace and Gromit return with comic warning about AI dystopia
- Philippine military says will acquire US Typhon missile system
- Afghan bread, the humble centrepiece of every meal
- Honda and Nissan expected to begin merger talks
- 'Draconian' Vietnam internet law heightens free speech fears
- Israeli women mobilise against ultra-Orthodox military exemptions
- Asian markets track Wall St rally as US inflation eases rate worries
- Tens of thousands protest in Serbian capital over fatal train station accident
- Trump vows to 'stop transgender lunacy' as a top priority
- Daniels throws five TDs as Commanders down Eagles, Lions and Vikings win
- 'Who's next?': Misinformation and online threats after US CEO slaying
- Only 12 trucks delivered food, water in North Gaza Governorate since October: Oxfam
- Tortoise Capital Completes Merger of Tortoise Power and Energy Infrastructure Fund, Inc. (NYSE: TPZ), Tortoise Pipeline & Energy Fund, Inc. (NYSE: TTP), and Tortoise Energy Independence Fund, Inc. (NYSE: NDP) and Conversion to Actively Managed ETF
- Tortoise Capital Completes Merger of Tortoise Energy Infrastructure Corp. (NYSE: TYG) and Tortoise Midstream Energy Fund, Inc. (NYSE: NTG)
- Telomir Pharmaceuticals Confirms Copper Binding Capabilities of Telomir-1 and Expands Pipeline Into Wilson's Disease
- Datametrex Cancels RSUS
- South Star Battery Metals Announces Upsize of Non-Brokered Private Placement to Raise Up to US$3.20M, Extends Closing and Amended and Restated Stream Agreement
- Brightline Interactive Successfully Delivers A Scalable Immersive Simulation To A Global Government Service Integrator, Positioning Itself As A Leading Operating System For Processing And Visualizing Complex Information In 3D Space
- Urb NM is Named "Fastest Growing" Marijuana Brand in New Mexico
- Alset AI Broadens Investment Policy to Embrace Decentralized AI, Quantum AI, Quantum Computing, and Cryptocurrency Opportunities
- Strawberry Fields REIT Enters Into Agreement for Six Healthcare Facilities Located in Kansas
- NanoViricides is in a Great Position to Fight Potential Bird Flu Pandemic with a Drug that the Mercurial H5N1 Influenza A Virus is Unlikely to Escape
- Zomedica Launches Two New Quantitative Assays on the TRUFORMA(R) Platform: Canine NT-proBNP and Progesterone
- MainStreetChamber Holdings, Inc. Submits 15(c)211 Application
- InterContinental Hotels Group PLC Announces Transaction in Own Shares - December 23
- Melrose Group Publicly Files Complaint to the Ontario Securities Commission
- Langers edge Tiger and son Charlie in PNC Championship playoff
- Explosive batsman Jacobs gets New Zealand call-up for Sri Lanka series
- Holders PSG edge through on penalties in French Cup
'Appeals Centre' to referee EU social media disputes
An independent appeals panel was unveiled Tuesday to decide disputes between social media firms and their users in the European Union over content posted on their platforms.
The out-of-court dispute settlement body, dubbed Appeals Centre Europe and backed by Meta's own oversight board, will be established in Dublin under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA).
The act polices illegal content like hate speech and disinformation on the biggest online platforms, and allows for outside entities to establish mechanisms to resolve disputes.
"The body will initially decide cases relating to Facebook, TikTok and YouTube, aiming to include more social media platforms over time," the board said in a statement.
Meta's oversight board -- often described as a top court for the company's content moderation decisions -- is providing a one-time grant for the centre.
Thomas Hughes, former oversight board chief, will be CEO of the new body and said it should begin accepting cases by the end of the year.
He told AFP it was a "game-changing moment" and confirmed users would be able to appeal to the appeals centre for a wide range of disputes under the DSA.
This could be a decision to take down -- or leave up -- content a user believes is hate speech, incitement to violence or other categories deemed unacceptable.
The DSA aims to force the largest online companies to tackle illegal content or face fines of up to six percent of their global turnover.
The bloc has already used the DSA to probe Facebook and Instagram for failing to tackle election-related disinformation, and has accused X of breaching the rules with its blue-tick "verified" accounts.
Establishing a dispute resolution mechanism is part of the process to make the law fully operational.
- Empowering Europeans -
Meta established the oversight board in 2020 with a non-retractable trust fund of $130 million.
The panel has the power to overrule the company on content moderation decisions with CEO Mark Zuckerberg promising to abide by their rulings.
Hughes explained that the oversight board's trust had paid for the new appeals centre, but once established it would take payments from users and the companies.
Users, he said, would pay a nominal fee of five euros ($5.50), which would be refunded if they won the appeal. Companies would pay around 100 euros for each case.
"It puts into the hands of individual users the ability to be able to challenge the decisions that are taken about their own content and what other content they see online as well," he told AFP.
Last month, Margrethe Vestager, the EU's digital enforcer, explained to reporters that, at its heart, the DSA was about empowering Europeans to hold big tech to account.
"The DSA is not content moderation," she said on a visit to the United States.
"It is a system to enable you to actually know what is taken down so that you can complain about it."
S.Gregor--AMWN