Under the DSA, online platforms must prioritise trusted flaggers' notices signalling illegal content, such as child abuse, intellectual property rights violations and online fraud, while retaining responsibility for verifying whether the content is illegal. Over 70 trusted flaggers with diverse expertise have already been designated. They include the Bank of Ireland, specialised in financial scams, Someturva, focusing on online harassment, such as non-consensual sharing of intimate materials, and Child focus, tackling online of child abuse material.
The draft guidelines clarify the criteria, as well as the process by which the Digital Services Coordinators award the ‘trusted flagger' status. They also provide guidance on the technical requirements trusted flaggers and platforms should follow when processing notices of illegal content. Finally, the guidelines aim to ensure trusted flaggers remain independent, objective and accountable, and that they are operating in full respect of freedom of expression. The guidelines also include measures to safeguard the integrity of trusted flaggers, to ensure the mechanism is not misused. These measures include public annual transparency reports by trusted flaggers, as well as procedures to suspend or revoke the status of trusted flaggers.
In preparation of the guidelines, the Commission has published a study on the implementation of this mechanism.
The Commission invites stakeholders with relevant expertise, including platforms, trusted flaggers, applicants, researchers, and civil society organisations, to share their views on the draft guidelines by 26 June 2026 (deadline to July 10). Following the receipt of the feedback, the Commission plans to adopt the guidelines in the second half of 2026.
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