Short answer
If you live in the EU and a platform removed your post or suspended your account, you can take the decision to a certified out-of-court dispute settlement body under Article 21 of the Digital Services Act. The best known, Appeals Centre Europe (certified in Ireland), reviews Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Threads, Pinterest and Google Maps decisions made in the last six months, charges users no fee and aims to decide within 90 days. Its decisions aren’t binding, but platforms must engage in good faith — and where it could see the content, it disagreed with the platform 59% of the time. It can’t review hacked accounts, impersonation, copyright, age or ID-verification decisions, or users outside the EU.
What Appeals Centre Europe can review
Appeals Centre Europe reviews content moderation decisions by Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Threads, Pinterest and Google Maps for anyone located in the EU. It applies the platform’s own rules, with a human-rights analysis — not national law. Its FAQ is specific about what falls outside its scope:
| The decision | Can it be reviewed? |
|---|---|
| A post, photo, video or comment removed | Yes, if the platform decided in the last six months |
| An account suspended or disabled over what you posted | Yes, where the platform provides the content |
| A Facebook or Instagram Page or Group, or a YouTube channel, removed | Yes |
| Harmful content you reported that was left up | Yes, with no time limit on when you reported it |
| Account judged fake, automated, part of a network or created to evade a ban | No: these “account behaviour” decisions are out of scope |
| Account hacked or compromised | No: use the platform’s recovery process |
| Suspended only for being linked to another suspended account | No |
| Impersonation, copyright or other intellectual-property decisions | No: use the platform’s impersonation or counter-notice process |
| Removed as under the minimum age, or after an ID verification | No |
| Spam flagged by automated systems (repeated or scraped uploads) | No |
| You live outside the EU | No |
Step by step: taking a decision to Appeals Centre Europe
- Keep the platform’s decision. Screenshot the notice and the statement of reasons, with the date. The six-month limit runs from the platform’s decision, not from your last message to support.
- Use the internal appeal first. The DSA doesn’t force you to, but a platform reversing its own decision is the fastest result, and a rejected appeal shows the dispute is real. See your appeal rights under the DSA.
- Create an account on the Appeals Centre portal and submit the dispute in one of its seven working languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch or Polish. The content itself can be in most EU languages.
- Decide on “platform re-review”. You can let the platform look at its decision again before the Centre does. If it reverses and the Centre can verify it, the case closes, and that dispute can’t then go to another body.
- Wait for the decision. The Centre aims to decide within 90 calendar days, often sooner, and up to 180 days for complex cases. It sends the decision to you and to the platform.
- The platform decides what to do. The decision isn’t binding, but the platform must engage in good faith. The Centre says plainly that it can’t guarantee your account or post will come back.
Other certified bodies: which one fits your case
You can choose any certified body whose expertise covers your dispute. It doesn’t have to be in your country, but it must work in your language. The European Commission keeps the official list; on 11 September 2026 it named 11 bodies. Those most relevant to social media accounts:
| Body | Certified in | Platforms or disputes | Languages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appeals Centre Europe | Ireland | Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Threads, Pinterest, Google Maps | English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Polish |
| User Rights | Germany | Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, Pinterest, X, YouTube, Snapchat | German, Italian, English, French |
| Platform Control | Germany | Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube, Google Maps, Google Play, Reddit, Pinterest, Wikipedia, Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid | German, English |
| ADR Center | Italy | Privacy, hate, scams, bullying, intellectual property, minors and more | Italian, English and 14 other EU languages |
| RTR, media division | Austria | Data protection, unlawful statements, bullying, fraud, access restrictions and more | German |
| ADROIT | Malta | Marketplaces, booking, gaming, content sharing | Eight, including English, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese |
For X, LinkedIn and Snapchat, which Appeals Centre Europe doesn’t cover, User Rights is the main option; for Reddit, Tinder or Hinge, Platform Control. Bodies in Greece, Hungary, Slovakia and a second one in Ireland complete the list. Check each body’s website for a fee before you file: the Commission says the procedure is free or low-cost for users, and the platform pays the fees if you win.
What the numbers say
In its second transparency report, published in May 2026, Appeals Centre Europe said it received more than 24,000 disputes between April 2025 and March 2026, more than half of them eligible. Where it could review the content, it disagreed with the platform 59% of the time: 52% for content that had been removed and 63% for harmful content left up.
The same report names the weak point for account cases: in the vast majority of account suspension disputes, platforms were unable or unwilling to provide the content, which blocks an independent review. In practice an account dispute is only as strong as the evidence you bring yourself.
How to make a dispute stronger
- Quote the rule. Name the policy the platform cited and explain why it doesn’t apply, or which exception does: news reporting, awareness, medical context, satire.
- Bring the content yourself. Before an account disappears, download your data and keep copies of the posts at issue; in suspensions the platform often doesn’t send them.
- Stay factual and short. A clear timeline (the decision, your internal appeal, the reply) beats pages of protest.
- Use the right route. Hacked accounts, impersonation and copyright have their own processes; for a takeover, see our hacked account recovery service.
- Watch the six months. After that, the Centre can’t accept the decision. We prepare DSA appeals and disputes as part of our account recovery work.
Frequently asked questions
Does Appeals Centre Europe cost anything?
There is currently no user fee: its costs are covered by the platforms. Other certified bodies may charge users a small fee, which the platform bears if you win.
How long does a decision take?
The Centre aims to decide within 90 calendar days of your submission and can extend that to 180 days for complex disputes. Many cases are decided sooner.
Will I get my account back if I win?
Not automatically. The decision isn’t binding: the platform must consider it in good faith and decides whether to reverse. A decision in your favour is still a strong, independent finding.
I live in the UK, Switzerland or Türkiye. Can I use it?
No. Only people located in an EU member state can submit a dispute. Outside the EU, rely on the platform’s own appeal and, in the UK, the complaint procedures required by the Online Safety Act.
Sources: European Commission — certified out-of-court dispute settlement bodies, Appeals Centre Europe — FAQs, Appeals Centre Europe — second transparency report (May 2026), Digital Services Act — Regulation (EU) 2022/2065