Who Will Check Social Media? Answer: Those on the European Commission’s List of “Trusted Flaggers”

The European Commission, under the Digital Services Act, announced a list of “trusted flaggers,” that is, entities responsible for identifying potentially illegal content online. This act is a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council adopted in 2022, aimed at creating a safer online environment for consumers and businesses in the European Union. This legal act consists of provisions that regulate matters related to defining the obligations of online platforms and social media, combating illegal content, including hate speech and disinformation, and achieving greater transparency through better reporting and oversight.

Article 22 of the Act identifies “trusted flaggers” who will be responsible for identifying potentially illegal content and reporting it. In the cited provision, it is specified that, to obtain this status, an entity must possess specialized expertise and competencies for detecting, identifying, and reporting illegal content, be independent of online platform providers, and take measures to submit reports accurately and objectively, while exercising due diligence. In Recital 61 of the Regulation, it is also stated that public entities (e.g., units of national law enforcement authorities responsible for reporting suspicious online content), non-governmental organizations, and private entities or entities of a mixed nature may apply to be granted this status. The status of a trusted flagger is granted by the Digital Services Coordinator of the Member State in which the entity applying for its designation is established.

In the second half of December 2025, the European Commission published a list of entities, which, based on notifications received from the Digital Services Coordinators of the individual Member States of the European Union (in Poland, this role is temporarily held by the President of the Office of Electronic Communications), were designated as “trusted flaggers.” . As of January 5 this year, there were more than 50 entities from various European Union member states, with not a single entity based in Poland. Among them are entities such as the German organization HateAid, which promotes human rights in the digital space; the Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania, operating under the auspices of that country’s government (Institutul Național pentru Studierea Holocaustului din România „Elie Wiesel”); and the Central Bank of Ireland (Central Bank of Ireland). The list also included several organizations working to combat racism, including, among others, the International League Against Racism and Antisemitism (Ligue internationale contre le racisme et l’antisémitisme) operating in France, Austria’s Civil Courage and Anti-Racism Work (ZARA – Zivilcourage und Anti-Rassismus-Arbeit), as well as the Belgian “UNIA”. There are also organizations there working to combat piracy and support children.

The European Commission’s publication of a list of “trusted flaggers” has been met with criticism from some conservative circles. Polish former MEP Jacek Saryusz Wolski (who is now a counselor to President Nawrocki) in a post on the X platform pointed to the specific political profile of the entities that have obtained this status. “Most of these ‘trusted flaggers’ are organizations with left-wing and far-left views. Examples include HateAID in Germany and UNIA in Belgium — UNIA is so radical, extremist, and biased that the Flemish government withdrew funding for it. These ‘trusted flaggers’ demand millions of removals under the pretext of “hate”—never defined—and ‘disinformation,’ which cannot be defined. In practice, this means any opinion that is not left-wing. We are therefore witnessing the global industrialization of hateful and arbitrary censorship by the EU,” the Polish politician stressed emphatically on social media.

The list was also criticized in the pages of the Polish weekly magazine Do Rzeczy. In the publication from the end of 2025, it was emphasized that “on the European Commission’s website, a whole range of entities are listed that specialize in tracking instances of ‘hate speech’ (…).” Among them, there is no shortage of those who for years have been perceived as progressivist, left-wing, or liberal. Organizations such as HateAid and ZARA have been criticized for attempts to censor the conservative side of the political scene, e.g., by accusing opponents of migration of racism or by combating criticism of LGBT demands.”

“When commenting on the issue of entities designated to the European Commission by Member States as “trusted flaggers,” it is worth noting that such situations raise legitimate concerns about the possibility of using the provisions of the Digital Services Act for ideological purposes. Although “trusted flaggers” do not have the authority to remove “illegal content” from the Internet, their role, which consists of identifying and reporting such content, will, in practice, be extremely important. Therefore, the controversies surrounding the Commission’s publication of a list of ‘trusted flaggers’ who had previously obtained that status in the respective Member States should not come as much of a surprise. Issues concerning freedom of speech, the limits of public debate, and the recently popular ‘fight against disinformation’ provoke strong public reactions, tied to the possibility of restricting constitutional rights and freedoms in this regard,” notes Patryk Ignaszczak of the Ordo Iuris Center for International Law.

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