"There is literally zero funding": Understanding the Emerging Role of Trusted Flaggers under the EU Digital Services Act
New research reveals the critical, underfunded role of DSA's Trusted Flaggers in policing online content.
A new academic study titled "'There is literally zero funding': Understanding the Emerging Role of Trusted Flaggers under the EU Digital Services Act" reveals significant challenges in the EU's flagship content moderation framework. Published on arXiv by researchers Marie-Therese Sekwenz, Kyle Beadle, and Simon Parkin, the paper is based on interviews with seven organizations accredited as Trusted Flaggers (TFs) under the DSA. These entities, recognized for their expertise and independence, are tasked with reporting illegal content to platforms like X and Meta, but the research uncovers a system struggling with its own design.
The study's key finding is a stark resource gap: despite being given a formal, critical role in European digital governance, Trusted Flaggers receive no dedicated funding from the EU or platforms to support their mandated work. This lack of financial support coincides with a reported increase in workload, creating unsustainable pressure. Furthermore, the researchers found the accreditation process to be cumbersome and noted that the priorities of online platforms often diverge from those of the flaggers, potentially undermining the system's effectiveness. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research and calls for standardization measures that account for the real-world resource constraints faced by these organizations.
- Trusted Flaggers, key entities under the EU's DSA for reporting illegal content, receive zero dedicated funding for their work.
- Researchers interviewed 7 TF organizations and found workloads are increasing without corresponding resource increases.
- The study identifies a misalignment between platform priorities and TF goals, alongside a cumbersome accreditation process.
Why It Matters
This exposes a critical flaw in a major global regulation, showing how well-intentioned rules can fail without proper resource allocation.