Article 17
Statement of reasons
Evaluation Scenarios (3 total)
Paragraph 1
Providers of hosting services shall provide a clear and specific statement of reasons to any affected recipients of the service for any of the following restrictions imposed on the ground that the information provided by the recipient of the service is illegal content or incompatible with their terms and conditions:
(a) any restrictions of the visibility of specific items of information provided by the recipient of the service, including removal of content, disabling access to content, or demoting content;
(b) suspension, termination or other restriction of monetary payments;
(c) suspension or termination of the provision of the service in whole or in part;
(d) suspension or termination of the recipient of the service's account.
Obligations (1)
Platforms must send a notification to a user that their content is affected by an enforcement decision, including:
Evaluator scenario
High Priority
- removal of content or disabling access to content
- demotion or restricting visibility of content
- suspension, termination or restriction of monetary payments
- suspension or termination of service provision
- suspension or termination of user account
1 evaluation scenario
Evaluation Scenarios (1)
1 scenario
Users receive statement of reasons for enforcement decisions
Given
Access to enforcement decision notification templates and delivery logs
When
We review notification delivery for content restrictions, account suspensions, or payment restrictions
Then
- Users receive a clear and specific statement of reasons when any restriction is imposed (content removal, visibility restriction, payment suspension, service termination, account suspension)
- The statement is delivered at the latest from the date the restriction is imposed
- The statement is sent to known electronic contact details of the affected user
- Notifications are not required for deceptive high-volume commercial content (exception per Article 17(2))
Platform Types
all
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 1 shall only apply where the relevant electronic contact details are known to the provider. It shall apply at the latest from the date that the restriction is imposed, regardless of why or how it was imposed.
Paragraph 1 shall not apply where the information is deceptive high-volume commercial content.
Obligations (1)
Acknowledge the scope of the Article 17(1) statement-of-reasons obligation, including that it only applies where electronic contact details are known and does not apply to deceptive high-volume commercial content.
Acknowledgement
Medium Priority
Statement
“We acknowledge that the obligation under Article 17(1) to provide a statement of reasons applies only where the relevant electronic contact details are known to us, and applies at the latest from the date the restriction is imposed, regardless of why or how it was imposed. We further acknowledge that Article 17(1) does not apply where the information concerned is deceptive high-volume commercial content.”
Evaluation Scenarios
No evaluation scenarios defined for this paragraph
Paragraph 3
The statement of reasons referred to in paragraph 1 shall at least contain the following information:
(a) information on whether the decision entails either the removal of, the disabling of access to, the demotion of or the restriction of the visibility of the information, or the suspension or termination of monetary payments related to that information, or imposes other measures referred to in paragraph 1 with regard to the information, and, where relevant, the territorial scope of the decision and its duration;
(b) the facts and circumstances relied on in taking the decision, including, where relevant, information on whether the decision was taken pursuant to a notice submitted in accordance with Article 16 or based on voluntary own-initiative investigations and, where strictly necessary, the identity of the notifier;
(c) where applicable, information on the use made of automated means in taking the decision, including information on whether the decision was taken in respect of content detected or identified using automated means;
(d) where the decision concerns allegedly illegal content, a reference to the legal ground relied on and explanations as to why the information is considered to be illegal content on that ground;
(e) where the decision is based on the alleged incompatibility of the information with the terms and conditions of the provider of hosting services, a reference to the contractual ground relied on and explanations as to why the information is considered to be incompatible with that ground;
(f) clear and user-friendly information on the possibilities for redress available to the recipient of the service in respect of the decision, in particular, where applicable through internal complaint-handling mechanisms, out-of-court dispute settlement and judicial redress.
Obligations (1)
Platforms must include all mandatory information elements in the statement of reasons for enforcement actions, covering: the specific measure taken (type, scope, duration), facts and circumstances behind the decision, use of automated means, legal or contractual grounds with explanations, and clear redress information.
Evaluator scenario
High Priority
1 evaluation scenario
Evaluation Scenarios (1)
1 scenario
Statement of reasons contains all mandatory information elements
Given
Access to statement of reasons templates and examples
When
We inspect statement content for compliance with Article 17(3) mandatory elements
Then
- Statement specifies the measure taken (removal, demotion, visibility restriction, payment suspension, service termination, account suspension) with territorial scope and duration if relevant
- Statement includes facts and circumstances relied on, including whether based on Article 16 notice or own-initiative investigation
- Statement discloses use of automated means in decision-making, including whether content was detected using automation
- For allegedly illegal content, statement references the legal ground and explains why the content is considered illegal
- For terms violations, statement references the contractual ground and explains the incompatibility
- Statement provides clear, user-friendly information on redress possibilities — internal complaint-handling mechanisms, out-of-court dispute settlement, and judicial redress
- For out-of-court dispute settlement, the statement points users to the European Commission's official list of certified out-of-court dispute resolution bodies at https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/dsa-out-court-dispute-settlement
Platform Types
all
Paragraph 4
The information provided by the providers of hosting services in accordance with this Article shall be clear and easily comprehensible and as precise and specific as reasonably possible under the given circumstances. The information shall, in particular, be such as to reasonably allow the recipient of the service concerned to effectively exercise the possibilities for redress referred to in of paragraph 3, point (f).
Obligations (1)
The statement of reasons must be clear, easily comprehensible, and as precise and specific as reasonably possible — enough for the affected user to effectively exercise the redress options referred to in Article 17(3)(f).
Evaluator scenario
High Priority
1 evaluation scenario
Evaluation Scenarios (1)
1 scenario
Statement of reasons is clear, specific, and actionable enough for the user to exercise the redress options under Article 17(3)(f).
Given
Access to the platform's statement-of-reasons template(s), or a redacted real statement sent to an affected user
When
We review the statement for clarity, specificity, and whether it equips the recipient to challenge the decision
Then
- Language is clear and easily comprehensible without requiring legal or technical expertise
- The facts and circumstances described are as precise and specific as reasonably possible (not boilerplate such as "your content violated our policies")
- Where the decision relies on a legal or contractual ground, the specific ground is named and the reasoning is explained concretely, not in generic terms
- Redress instructions cover all three avenues — internal complaint-handling, out-of-court dispute settlement, and judicial redress — and are concrete enough to act on, naming the channel and linking to it where applicable
- For out-of-court dispute settlement, the statement points users to the European Commission's official list of certified out-of-court dispute resolution bodies at https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/dsa-out-court-dispute-settlement
- A reasonable recipient could, from the statement alone, understand what happened and how to challenge it
Platform Types
all
Paragraph 5
This Article shall not apply to any orders referred to in Article 9.
No obligations:
This section only contains exceptions
Evaluation Scenarios
No evaluation scenarios defined for this paragraph