Are you in a dispute with an online platform?
Free · Digital · Independent
Account suspended? Post deleted?
Report rejected?
We review moderation decisions
made by online platforms.
Independent, impartial,
legally sound, and free for users
.
We review moderation decisions made by the following platforms:
Whether we can review a specific decision depends on Article 21 of the DSA and our rules of procedure. Not every action taken by a named agency automatically falls within our jurisdiction.
Certified by the Federal Network Agency pursuant to Article 21(3) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065.
Platform Control is an out-of-court dispute resolution body certified under Article 21 of the Digital Services Act. Our role is to independently review certain moderation decisions made by online platforms.
In particular, the certification requires independence, impartiality, and professional competence.
View certification with the Federal Network Agency ↗Do you disagree with a decision?
Every day, online platforms decide which content remains visible and which users are allowed to continue using their services. These decisions may be subject to review.
Account restricted?
Has your user account been suspended, deactivated, demonetized, or restricted in some way? We'll review the decision behind it.
Content removed?
Was a comment, review, photo, or video deleted or restricted? We'll review whether the action was justified.
Report rejected?
Did you report content that may be illegal, but the platform refused to remove it? That, too, may be subject to review.
Four Steps to Making a Decision.
Our process is entirely digital. We'll keep you informed about the key steps via email.
File a complaint
Please describe the contested decision to us using our online form.
Check Admissibility
We will review our jurisdiction and the formal requirements for your complaint.
Assess from a legal perspective
The platform may issue a statement. Our case reviewers will evaluate the dispute.
Received the decision
You will receive our independent decision, supported by a written explanation.
Legal Protection in the Digital World. More accessible.
Free.
The complaint process is generally free of charge for users. Fees may apply only in exceptional cases provided for by law, particularly in cases of obvious malicious conduct.
Independent and impartial.
Our case reviewers review the contested decision based on applicable law and the applicable terms of use.
Simple and transparent.
You can easily file a complaint online. We'll keep you informed of any significant developments and explain the basis for our decision.
Have your complaint reviewed by an independent party.
Do you disagree with a moderator's decision? Submit your complaint online in just a few minutes.
File a complaint ↗Frequently Asked Questions
Would you like to know whether your complaint is admissible, what costs are involved, or how our process works? Here, we answer the most important questions about out-of-court dispute resolution at Platform Control.
If you're unsure whether your complaint is admissible, we recommend that you first submit it using our online form. It usually takes less than five minutes to fill out, and there is no initial cost.
Once we receive your complaint, we will generally review it within seven days to determine whether the requirements for a dispute resolution process have been met.
Please note that this is initially a preliminary review of admissibility. Additional grounds for inadmissibility may arise during the course of the proceedings, for example, based on additional information provided by the online platform in question.
Whether, for example, a moderation decision made some time ago can still be reviewed depends on the specific circumstances and our rules of procedure.
We therefore ask that you refrain from submitting separate preliminary inquiries regarding admissibility. The necessary review will be conducted as part of the filed appeal proceedings.
Yes. The complaint process with Platform Control is free of charge for users. The costs of out-of-court dispute resolution are borne by the online platforms involved.
Article 21 of the DSA provides for an exception only under certain conditions, in particular when a user is acting in a clearly malicious manner.
Such an exception might apply, for example, in the case of a deliberate, abusive, and large-scale filing of complaints. In our practice to date, we have never had to make use of this exception.
If you wish to have a moderation decision reviewed in good faith, you therefore do not need to worry about any procedural fees.
As a general rule, please file a separate complaint for each independent moderation decision.
This applies, for example, when multiple Google Maps reviews have been removed, various Instagram comments have been affected, or different user accounts have been suspended.
It is especially important to submit them separately if you have different moderation IDs for the individual decisions.
Processing the complaints separately allows us and the relevant online platform to clearly identify the subject of each complaint and review it from a legal perspective.
That depends on how the other proceeding was concluded or whether it is still pending.
If another dispute resolution body has refused to handle your case—for example, due to a lack of jurisdiction—or if you have withdrawn your complaint there, it may still be possible to file a complaint with Platform Control.
If, however, the same matter in dispute has already been decided on its merits by another dispute resolution body, a new review is generally precluded.
The same generally applies if another dispute resolution proceeding concerning the same matter is still pending.
Please provide complete details regarding any previous or ongoing proceedings in the complaint form.
We strive to process complaints as quickly as possible. The actual duration of the process depends, in particular, on the complexity of the case and the statements required.
According to Article 21 of the DSA, the dispute resolution body shall, as a general rule, notify the parties of its decision within 90 calendar days of receiving the complaint.
In particularly complex cases, this deadline may be extended to a total of up to 180 calendar days.
We will keep you informed of any significant developments in the proceedings via email.
Yes. Platform Control is an out-of-court dispute resolution body certified under Article 21 of the DSA.
Our case adjudicators are independent and impartial in their work. They evaluate disputes based on the facts of the case, applicable laws, and the applicable Terms of Use.
The fact that the procedural fees are generally borne by the online platforms has no bearing on the substance of our decisions.
We do not represent the interests of either the platform or the complainant, but rather conduct an independent legal assessment.
No. Decisions made by an out-of-court dispute resolution body under Article 21 of the DSA are not legally binding. Such decisions cannot be enforced against platforms through government coercive measures.
In particular, this means that an online platform is not legally obligated to reverse a moderation action that has been challenged solely on the basis of our decision.
However, our decisions include an independent legal assessment of the dispute. They may prompt a platform to reconsider its original decision or amend it accordingly.
Regardless of this, the right to seek legal recourse before the competent courts remains open in principle.
Any questions?
Would you like to have a moderation decision reviewed? Simply submit your complaint online.