Send a statement of reasons for every restriction

Region

European Union (EU). The duty comes from the law there. The rule applies only when the project serves people there, and its Applies when also holds.

How to do it

Article 17 of the Digital Services Act applies to every hosting service, whatever started the decision. A quiet demotion or a hidden reply counts as much as a removal, so a shadow ban without a notice breaks the law. Send the statement when the restriction starts, to the contact details you hold. Build it from the policy table row and the decision record. Name the restriction, its scope and length, the facts, and whether a notice or your own search found it. Say whether automated means found or decided it. Give the legal or contract ground and the ways to appeal, including out-of-court bodies and the courts. Answers to notices are covered in Take notices about illegal content and answer each one.

Examples

JavaScript example

export async function restrict(decision) {
  await applyRestriction(decision);
  await statements.send(decision.userId, {
    restriction: decision.type, scope: decision.territory, until: decision.endsAt,
    facts: decision.facts, source: decision.source, automatedDetection: decision.automatedDetection,
    automatedDecision: decision.automatedDecision, ground: policyRow(decision.reason).ground, redress: REDRESS_LINKS,
  });
}

Python example

def restrict(decision):
    apply_restriction(decision)
    statements.send(decision.user_id, {
        "restriction": decision.type, "scope": decision.territory, "until": decision.ends_at,
        "facts": decision.facts, "source": decision.source, "automated_detection": decision.automated_detection,
        "automated_decision": decision.automated_decision, "ground": policy_row(decision.reason).ground,
        "redress": REDRESS_LINKS,
    })

How to check

A test applies each restriction type in the policy table to a test account, including a demotion. Each creates one statement with the restriction, the ground, the automation fields and the appeal links. A search of the code for actions that lower reach finds none that skip the statement function.

Sources

• Digital Services Act Article 17

Related rules

• TNS-2 Write the moderation policy as one table of reasons and actions in Trust and safety
• CMP-63 Take notices about illegal content and answer each one in Compliance and governance