The rights of an online platform user

Illegality is defined by the national or EU legislation. Traficom cannot comment on illegality. In legislation, incitement to terrorism, illegal hate speech, child sexual abuse material and infringement of intellectual property rights, among other things, have been defined as illegal content.

In this context, a content provider refers to a natural or legal person such as a company or other entity that uses the intermediary services defined in the DSA, i.e. storage services or online platforms in particular, in order to make information or content accessible to others. Content providers may include, for instance:

• private individuals who publish their own content such as photographs or videos on social media services, update their own profile or comment on the content of others.
• companies that advertise or sell their products or services on social media services or an external online marketplace.

Has the service provider removed content you uploaded into the service or made other decisions concerning the content? As a content provider, you have the right to be informed about said decision, its reasons and the measures that the online service provider has taken concerning the content. In addition, the reasons must include information on how you can appeal the decision made by the online service provider.

Equally, the service provider must give notice if the account will be terminated or if the provision of the service or monetary payments will be suspended or terminated.

The online platform is obliged to inform users about the advertiser and the party that paid for the advertisement, as well as the criteria based on which the recipients of the advertisement have been defined. If you provide advertisements for the service, the platform must give you an opportunity to state that it is an advertisement. The online platform must offer a functionality for the users to declare that the content is commercial communications. In Finland, the transparency of advertising is monitored by the Consumer Ombudsman and the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman.

If you use online stores or marketplaces to sell products or services, you must submit identifying information on yourself to the marketplace. You must also confirm that the products and services are compliant with the law. As a seller, you can require that the online marketplace give you the option to provide information about yourself as a seller as well as the information about products and services required by law.

If the online service for which you have provided content is an online platform in accordance with the definition of the DSA, you have the right to lodge a complaint in the internal complaint handling system of the online platform provider. The provision does not apply to micro and small enterprises, however.
 

As a content provider, you also have the option to take the decision made by the online service to be processed by an out-of-court dispute settlement body. You can select any certified out-of-court dispute settlement body to process your case. Such a dispute settlement body can give recommendations for resolving the case, but it cannot impose a binding settlement on the parties. If a dispute on the same issue has already been resolved, the online service provider may refuse to participate in dispute settlement of the case.

You also always have the right to take a decision of the service provider on the content you have provided to be decided by a general court of law. In Finland, the general court of first instance in civil matters is a district court.

If you have suffered damage or financial loss due to a service provider neglecting its obligations under the DSA, you have the right to seek compensation from the service provider for the loss or damage in accordance with Union and national law.

If the service provider does not comply with the procedures described above to ensure the realisation of your rights, you can lodge a complaint on the issue with the supervisory authority. However, you should keep in mind that the authority monitoring compliance with the DSA does not comment on the legality or illegality of the content, product or service itself. Always also remember to contact the service provider directly first and ensure that you receive answers to your demands from them.

Using an online platform to disseminate illegal content is prohibited. The misuse of the notice and complaint system is also prohibited. The online platform is obliged to suspend the provision of the service to users who frequently upload manifestly illegal content into the service or frequently submit unfounded notices or complaints. 

The content is manifestly illegal and the notices or complaints are manifestly unfounded, if it is evident to a layperson, without any substantive analysis, that the content is illegal or that the notices or complaints are unfounded.

• The service provider has not implemented a procedure you could use to notify the provider about illegal content.
• You have not received information from the service provider about a decision it has made due to your notice.
• The online platform does not provide access to an internal complaint handling system.
• Multinational platform giants, such as large social media platforms, are monitored by the EU Commission and the authorities of the country where the main establishment of said company is located. You can also contact Traficom in case of problems related to the activities of platform giants, but your notice will be transferred to the competent authority.

• Dark patterns occur on an online platform that provides a service to consumers.
• There are deficiencies in the identifiability of commercial advertisements targeted at consumers.
• There are deficiencies in the information of a trader that offers its products or services on an online marketplace, i.e. the name and contact information of the company is not stated on the platform, for instance.
• The online marketplace has not notified consumers appropriately that a product or service purchased by the consumers via the platform has turned out to be illegal.

• There are deficiencies in the identifiability and transparency of social or political advertising.
• Advertisements are targeted based on information belonging to special categories of personal data. There are deficiencies in the transparency of the recommender systems used by the providers of the online platform.
• The online platform provider does not ensure the safety and privacy of minors in its services or shows advertisements based on the profiling of minors.