Article 17

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)

User Notification Enforcement

Evaluator scenario High Priority

Platforms must send a notification to a user that their content is affected by an enforcement decision, including:

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)

User Notification Enforcement

1 scenario

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)

no email + spam exception

Acknowledgement Medium Priority

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.

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

None are 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)

Statement Content Requirements

Evaluator scenario High Priority

Platforms must include all mandatory information elements in the statement of reasons for enforcement actions.

1 evaluation scenario

Evaluation scenarios (1)

Statement Content Requirements

1 scenario

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

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)

Statement Clarity

Evaluator scenario High Priority

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).

1 evaluation scenario

Evaluation scenarios (1)

Statement Clarity

1 scenario

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
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

None are defined for this paragraph.