Information for platforms
Impress Dispute Resolutions is certified by Coimisiún na Meán as an out-of-court dispute settlement body under Article 21 of the EU Digital Services Act. This page sets out what the process involves, what we will need from you, and what it costs.
If you have received notice of a dispute and need to respond, contact us at dispute@impressdisputeresolutions.org.
What makes Impress Dispute Resolutions (IDR) different
Article 21 gives recipients of your service the right to select a certified out of court dispute settlement body for disputes about decisions taken under Articles 16, 17 and 20.
You may deal with several certified dispute bodies. Here is what is different about working with us.
Ten years of dispute resolution behind us
Impress has resolved disputes between the public and media organisations since 2016, applying legal and content standards to disputes about published material. IDR is built on that work.
Protection against claims that should not proceed
Your case decision-maker can end a case where there is no reasonable basis for it, where it is brought in bad faith or is an abuse of process, or where the issue is so minor that the process would be disproportionate. Those powers exist to stop the scheme being used to harass you.
Our case decision-makers are not our employees
Every case is decided by a qualified lawyer with at least seven years’ post-qualification experience and arbitration accreditation from Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Ciarb). They are appointed by Ciarb’s Dispute Appointment Service. We do not select them, employ them, or pay them by outcome. So, when a decision goes your way, it counts. Bodies that pick their own adjudicators, or take platform money, cannot say that with confidence.
Costs you can forecast
Our fees are fixed and published before a case begins. There is no success element, no escalation, and no variation by outcome. You can budget per case rather than carrying open-ended exposure.
Less of your team’s time
Platforms that register a contact point and complete the scheme agreement in advance spend a fraction of the staff time per case that platforms starting cold do.
A record you can cite
We publish, by platform, how many cases were engaged with and how they were resolved. A platform that responds inside our windows builds a documented engagement record it can point to in its own Digital Services Act reporting.
What Article 21 requires
Article 21 gives recipients of your service the right to select a certified out-of-court dispute settlement body for disputes about decisions taken under Articles 16, 17 and 20.
Where a claimant selects us, you are required to engage with the process in good faith.
The outcome itself is not binding. We cannot impose a settlement on you or on the claimant, and neither party is legally required to act on a decision. Both retain the right to go to court.
You may decline to engage where the same dispute, concerning the same information and the same grounds, has already been resolved. If you consider that to be the case, tell us and we will assess it.
The process, stage by stage
- 1We notify you
- 2You confirm participation
- 3Decision maker appointed
- 4Evidence
- 5Decision
- 6Implementation
1
We notify you
When we accept a case involving your service, we notify your registered contact point. We ask you to acknowledge receipt within one working day.
If we do not hold a contact for you, we use the contact point you have published under Article 11 or Article 12.
2
You confirm participation
We ask you to confirm that you will engage, and to sign the scheme agreement covering how the case will run.
At this stage you can also raise an objection, either that the case should not proceed on factual or legal grounds, or that it has already been resolved. Tell us and we will assess it before the case goes further. Raising an objection is not the same as declining to engage.
3
A case decision-maker is appointed
The Dispute Appointment Service at Ciarb appoints a case decision-maker from our panel. We do not select them.
Before taking the appointment, they confirm in writing that they are impartial, independent and free of any conflict of interest.
Your case decision-maker then checks admissibility independently and can decline a case we have accepted.
4
Evidence
Your case decision-maker will tell you what they need and set a deadline. That will usually include your record of the moderation decision, the policy or legal basis you applied, and your internal complaint handling record.
Where you consider material to be confidential, tell us. Your case decision-maker decides what remains confidential.
If we do not hear from you by the deadline, your case decision-maker can proceed on the evidence available. A case is not paused by your non-response.
5
Decision
Your case decision-maker issues a preliminary decision to both parties. You have a set period to comment on it or request an amendment before it is finalised.
6
Implementation
Once the decision is final, we ask what action you have taken. You have a set period to respond.
We record your response, whether that is acceptance, refusal, an alternative proposal, or no response at all. That record is published by platform, and it forms part of our annual report to Coimisiún na Meán.
Register a contact point
You can register with us before we send you anything. It takes one exchange of emails.
Registering means we hold a named contact and route, so notices reach the right team immediately. It also allows the scheme agreement to be reviewed by your legal team on your own timescale.
Platforms that register in advance resolve cases faster, and the delay avoided is entirely at your end.
Engaging in good faith
Article 21 requires engagement in good faith. In practice we take that to mean:
- acknowledging notices within the period we set
- signing the scheme agreement, or raising a substantive objection, rather than not responding
- providing the material your case decision-maker asks for, by the deadline, or explaining why you cannot
- responding to a final decision, whether or not you intend to act on it
- not using procedural steps to delay a case without cause
Where a platform does not meet these, we record it. Our reporting sets out, by platform, how many cases were engaged with and how many were not.
Good faith runs both ways. Your case decision-maker can strike out a claim brought in bad faith, one with no reasonable basis, or one so minor that the process would be disproportionate to it. Where a claimant acts in bad faith, that is taken into account.
Fees
Our fees are fixed and published in advance. They do not vary with the outcome of a case, and no part of any fee is contingent on a decision going one way or the other.
Fees are payable by the platform on completion of a case, whatever the outcome. Claimants pay nothing at any stage.
Invoices are issued monthly, per platform, covering all cases concluded in that period.
How we handle your information
Material you provide is used for the purposes of the case. Your case decision-maker determines what remains confidential between the parties.
We publish anonymised summaries of concluded cases. These remove information identifying the claimant, the content and anyone else involved. We tell both parties what we intend to publish.
Contact us
- If you have received notice of a dispute — dispute@impressdisputeresolutions.org
- To register a contact point — gia@impressdisputeresolutions.org
- For questions about fees or invoicing — info@impressdisputeresolutions.org
- For anything else — help@impressdisputeresolutions.org
We respond to platform enquiries within two working days.