Facebook leaves no room for appeal: Meta criticised for blocking accounts
This is according to the BBC, citing a report by Appeals Centre Europe.
Appeals Centre Europe reviewed 4,600 appeals from Facebook, Instagram and Threads users who claimed their accounts had been blocked in error.
According to the body, Meta provided evidence in fewer than 100 such cases. The report notes that this has caused significant frustration among users.
Appeals Centre Europe is one of the independent pre-litigation dispute resolution bodies in the EU. Through such bodies, users can appeal against social media platforms’ decisions regarding account suspension and content moderation.
Under EU law, online platforms must cooperate with such bodies in good faith, but the decisions of the Appeals Centre Europe are not legally binding.
Account suspensions have become the main complaint
The report states that account suspensions were the largest category of complaints in the year to March 2026.
The body stated that in the vast majority of cases involving account suspensions, platforms are unable or unwilling to provide materials that would allow their decisions to be independently verified.
The BBC notes that last year, over 500 Facebook and Instagram users from various countries, including the UK, contacted the editorial team. They complained that their accounts had been blocked, and there was virtually no opportunity to appeal the decision or speak to Meta representatives.
Some users spoke of serious personal consequences of such bans, including fear of possible police intervention and problems for their online businesses.
The BBC reports that Meta repeatedly declined to comment on these issues, although it often lifted the bans after the editorial team raised individual cases.
What about hate speech
The Appeals Centre Europe report also addresses content that users requested to be removed.
The body reviewed over 1,400 appeals regarding suspected hate speech. According to Executive Director Thomas Hughes, in over two-thirds of decisions regarding hate speech, the platform failed to apply its own rules and left such content online.
The report cites examples of misogynistic, racist, homophobic and transphobic posts.
According to Appeals Centre Europe’s assessment, TikTok failed to remove 83% of potential hate speech, Instagram 74%, Facebook 61% and YouTube 58%.
What examples were given
Appeals Centre Europe cited a case of racist comments on Instagram following a Champions League match, where black footballers were compared to monkeys. The platform left these comments up.
The body also mentioned anti-Semitic videos on YouTube that were shared by well-known figures in Poland. According to the Appeals Centre Europe, their presence on the platform contravened YouTube’s policy on hate speech.
The report also specifically mentions an AI-generated video about Russia’s war against Ukraine that was left on TikTok. Appeals Centre Europe considered that it violated the platform’s rules on disinformation.
How the platforms are responding
Social media platforms failed to provide relevant content for review in 72% of over 10,000 cases.
In the nearly 3,000 cases where the Appeals Centre Europe was able to review the content, the body disagreed with the platform’s decision in 59% of cases.
YouTube told the BBC that its hate speech policy contains clear rules prohibiting content that incites violence or hatred against people or groups on the basis of certain characteristics. The company also stated that it is willing to cooperate with pre-litigation dispute resolution bodies.
TikTok did not provide the BBC with an official response for quotation; however, according to the company, it has engaged with the Appeals Centre Europe through meetings and emails.
Meta had not provided a comment at the time of the BBC’s publication.
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