Short answer
Under Article 16 of the EU Digital Services Act, every platform must offer an easy electronic way to report illegal content — content that breaks EU or national law, not just the platform’s own rules. A notice that works contains four things: why the content is illegal, the exact URL, your name and email (not required for child sexual abuse material) and a statement that you believe it is accurate and complete. The platform must confirm receipt, decide in a timely, diligent and objective way, and tell you the outcome and how to challenge it. If it says no, you can file a free internal complaint, take it to a dispute body such as Appeals Centre Europe, or tell your Digital Services Coordinator.
Rules violation or illegal content?
Platforms handle two kinds of report. A breach of their community rules goes through the normal report button. Content that is illegal under EU or national law has a separate legal route with stronger obligations under the DSA. Pick the right one, because each is reviewed against a different standard:
| What you found | Route |
|---|---|
| Spam, nudity, bullying that breaks the platform’s rules | In-app report naming the rule that was broken |
| Threats, defamation, hate speech that is a crime where you live | DSA illegal-content notice; the police for criminal offences |
| Intimate images shared without consent | DSA notice plus the platform’s intimate-image form; see leaked intimate images |
| Scam ads, counterfeit goods, copyright or trademark infringement | DSA notice, or the platform’s intellectual-property form for rights holders |
| Child sexual abuse material | Report to the platform and to the police; no name is required in the notice |
| An immediate threat to someone’s life or safety | Call the police first; platforms must also alert the authorities |
What a valid notice must contain
Article 16 lists the elements that turn a report into a proper notice. Ireland’s regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, sums them up the same way:
| Element | What to write |
|---|---|
| Why it is illegal | A substantiated explanation: which law, and which facts make the content break it |
| Exact location | The URL of each post, video or comment, not just the profile |
| Your name and email | Required, except for reports of child sexual abuse material |
| Good-faith statement | That you honestly believe the notice is accurate and complete |
Most large platforms keep a separate form for reporting illegal content in the EU, usually in their help centre under legal or DSA reports; the in-app button generally checks only their own rules. Platforms must also publish a single point of contact for users that is not fully automated.
What the platform has to do next
- Confirm receipt without undue delay, if you gave an email address.
- Decide in a timely, diligent, non-arbitrary and objective way, and say whether automated tools were used to process the notice or take the decision.
- Tell you the decision and the ways you can challenge it.
- Give the person who posted the content a statement of reasons if it is removed or restricted, so they can contest it too.
- Alert the police or judicial authorities if it learns of a criminal offence threatening someone’s life or safety.
The DSA sets no fixed number of hours for an ordinary notice. Notices from trusted flaggers, organisations given that status for their expertise, must be handled with priority; the European Commission publishes their list, searchable by country and area of expertise.
If the platform does nothing or says no
- File an internal complaint. Article 20 opens the platform’s complaint system to people who submitted a notice, free of charge, for at least six months after the decision.
- Take it to an out-of-court dispute body. Appeals Centre Europe accepts disputes about harmful content left up on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Threads, Pinterest and Google Maps, with no time limit on when you reported it. See how Appeals Centre Europe works.
- Ask a trusted flagger for help. A victims’ support, anti-hate or child-protection organisation with the status can flag the content with priority.
- Complain to the regulator if the platform has no working notice form, never answers or ignores the rules. See how to complain to a Digital Services Coordinator.
- Go to the police or a court when the content is a crime. A judge or authority can order a platform to act against specific illegal content.
Mistakes that get notices rejected
- Linking the profile instead of the post. Give one exact URL per item.
- “This is illegal” with no reason. Name the offence or right infringed and the facts; a reviewer can’t guess.
- Reporting disagreement, not illegality. Unpleasant opinions are rarely illegal; use the rules report instead.
- Bulk or abusive notices. Under Article 23, platforms can suspend, after a warning, the processing of notices from people who frequently send manifestly unfounded ones.
- No evidence kept. Screenshot the content with the date and URL before you report; it may vanish or be edited. We prepare notices and escalations as part of our content removal work.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to give my name to report illegal content?
Usually yes: a DSA notice includes your name and email address. The exception is child sexual abuse material, which can be reported without them.
How quickly must the platform act?
The DSA requires a timely, diligent and objective decision but sets no fixed deadline for ordinary notices. Notices from trusted flaggers must be handled with priority.
Can I challenge a refusal to remove content?
Yes. As the person who sent the notice, you can use the platform’s free internal complaint system and then a certified dispute body such as Appeals Centre Europe, or go to court.
Does this work if I live outside the EU?
The DSA protects people in the EU. In the UK, the Online Safety Act requires platforms to have systems to remove illegal content when it is flagged; elsewhere, use the platform’s own legal reporting form.
Sources: Digital Services Act — Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, Articles 16, 20, 22 and 23, Coimisiún na Meán — how to report to platforms, European Commission — trusted flaggers under the DSA, Appeals Centre Europe — FAQs