Trusted Flaggers of Social Media. Gamechanger for Regulation of Online Crime in Europe?

• In Event: Digital Justice and Online Harm: Emerging Frontiers in Crime and Ideology

Abstract

As the digital sphere has become an integrated part of everyday life, online content moderation has increasing impact on social life. Thus, moderation is one of the key principles in the Digital Services Act (DSA), recently applied in the European Union. This is mainly through the implementation of ‘trusted flaggers’, which is a status granted by the EU to organizations with expertise identifying different types of illegal content. Online platforms are required to ensure that content reported by trusted flaggers receive a faster evaluation for removal. This formalized inclusion of third-party organizations in European legislation contains an overlap with areas regulated by national law enforcement. This preliminary analysis looks at Denmark as a case of a small language area, dependent on Danish organizations to contribute to the trusted flagger solution. It is based on 15 interviews with organizations that are relevant for trusted flagger status in Denmark, and Danish law enforcement. We find that while most organizations are positive towards the trusted flagger solution, many are hesitant to apply for the status due to its perceived lack of relevance to their primary work, the lack of resources to carry out the flagging, and the additional labor of delivering yearly reports, required by the DSA. This may result in a lack of coverage within different areas of illegal online content in Denmark. Moreover, we find that the overlap between the areas of trusted flaggers and law enforcement may become problematic for police investigations in cases where trusted flaggers ensure quick removal of the illegal materials.

Authors

• Silke Emilie Eilertsen, KobenHavns Universitet

• Jakob Demant, University of Copenhagen