Social Media Bans and the Digital Services Act: A Critical Analysis of Statement of Reasons and Online Dispute Resolution

Abstract

The Digital Services Act introduces specific rules regarding social media bans in the context of content moderation, focusing on both what is known as the Statement of Reasons and user redress mechanisms. The Statement of Reasons should provide an elaborated explanation for platform decisions regarding content moderation. In this paper, we critically analyse to what extent the Digital Services Act (DSA) provides users with the necessary tools to effectively challenge a ban.