In a stunning display of technocratic incompetence, the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) has effectively outlawed the very tool that online platforms have relied on for years to combat trolls: shadowbanning. Recent court decisions suggest that the DSA’s (possibly?) well-intentioned but misguided Article 17 has created a troll’s paradise, leaving websites in an impossible position when trying to deal with bad actors. I will note that the DSA’s authors were warned of this in advance by multiple experts, but they either didn’t care or didn’t listen.

Case file: https://uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl/details?id=ECLI:NL:RBAMS:2024:3980 (Dutch)