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If YouTube removed your video, gave you a strike, suspended monetisation or ignored your report, appeal to YouTube first. If the decision stands, Article 21 of the Digital Services Act allows an independent review: ODS, run by ADR Center (certified by AGCOM, Resolution 501/24/CONS), is free, rules on admissibility within 10 days and decides within 90, without binding either side.
ADR Center: out-of-court dispute settlement body certified by AGCOM under Article 21 of the DSA, Regulation (EU) 2022/2065.
ODS can review content moderation decisions YouTube takes because it considers something illegal or in breach of its policies. The Digital Services Act, Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, lists them for the platform's internal complaint system and then for certified bodies: removing a video, comment or thumbnail; restricting the visibility of content, for example with an age restriction; suspending or ending the service or the account; and suspending or restricting the ability to earn money from content, such as a suspension from the YouTube Partner Program. It also covers the reverse situation, where you reported something and YouTube decided to leave it up. Google's own page on the Digital Services Act lists these same situations. If your whole YouTube channel has been terminated, there is a separate page with the steps for appealing a termination; this page is about videos, strikes, monetisation and reports. ODS is not part of YouTube or Google: it is not a help desk, and it cannot put a video back online or reinstate a channel.
Before coming to ODS, you need to ask YouTube to look at its decision again. When YouTube removes a video under its Community Guidelines, it tells you by email; the first violation is typically only a warning, and later ones bring a strike that limits what your channel can do for a period (Community Guidelines strike basics on YouTube). YouTube Help explains that you appeal from YouTube Studio: from the Channel violations card on the dashboard, or from the Notice on the video in the Content tab, where you explain your reasons and submit (Appeal a Community Guidelines strike or video removal). Two points from the same page: you may appeal each strike only once, and if you delete the video the strike remains and you cannot appeal again. Keep YouTube's email, the date of your appeal and the outcome: if YouTube upholds the decision, those are the details ODS needs.
Not every YouTube decision removes a video. Sometimes YouTube suspends a channel from the YouTube Partner Program, and monetisation shows as disabled. YouTube Help separates paused monetisation, which comes from a problem with your AdSense account, from monetisation disabled by a decision on the channel (Monetization is disabled for my channel). For a Partner Program suspension, YouTube offers an appeal from the Earn section of YouTube Studio, either with an unlisted video or through Creator Support, and advises you not to delete videos before you appeal. The same page adds that if you are based in the European Union and disagree with your suspension, there may be additional resolution options available to you (Appeal a YouTube Partner Program suspension). A review by ODS is one of them: under the Digital Services Act, restricting monetisation is a decision you can challenge just like removing a video.
The Digital Services Act is not only for people whose videos were removed. If you reported a video or comment on YouTube as illegal or in breach of the rules and YouTube decided to keep it online, that is a decision about you too, and you can challenge it. Article 21 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 expressly includes individuals and organisations that submitted notices among those who can go to a certified body. Google's page on the Act confirms it: eligible cases include reporting content that Google did not remove, and Google notes that you get one opportunity to appeal internally for each report it did not act on (European Union Digital Services Act Resolution Options). So the path is: first the appeal to YouTube about your report, then, if the answer does not satisfy you, a review by ODS. Keep the link and screenshots of the content, since videos can be edited or deleted. ODS treats YouTube and the person who reported with the same impartiality.
A YouTube decision about a video, a strike or monetisation is reviewed by ODS's independent experts. ODS is run by ADR Center, a body certified by AGCOM, Italy's Digital Services Coordinator. The experts assess the decision in light of YouTube's policies and the Digital Services Act, give written reasons and do not promise any outcome. Their decision binds neither YouTube nor you, and Google states that it is not bound by the decisions of these bodies. To open a case you need: YouTube's email about the decision, the link to the video or channel, the date of your appeal to YouTube and the reply you got, screenshots from YouTube Studio and, if you know it, the name of the policy YouTube cited. In the ODS form you also give your country of residence in the EU, your channel name and the account email, and you confirm that no other dispute settlement body is already handling the same decision. The procedure is free, runs online in 16 languages, and after submitting you confirm the request from the link we email you.
ADR Center: out-of-court dispute settlement body certified by AGCOM under Article 21 of the DSA, Regulation (EU) 2022/2065.
Last updated: 28 September 2026
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