The European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA) introduced regulatory mechanisms which serve as a way to manage harmful content online. The recognition of Trusted Flaggers (TFs) is one such mechanism which accredits entities with experience, platform independence, and skill in identifying and reporting illegal content. With the DSA's TF role being roughly one year old, we interviewed representatives of seven such TF organizations to learn about their experiences of becoming a TF and how it impacts their interactions with online platforms and with individual users. We additionally ran a workshop involving TF representatives, primarily as it was requested by TFs themselves, who collectively wanted to share experiences of their new role and learn from each other rather than be isolated. Notably, we found that accreditation as a TF can be cumbersome, that resources for TFs remain the same despite an increasing workload, and that platforms priorities often diverge from TFs. We conclude with recommendations for future research into understanding user representation within the DSA and the need for standardization measures tailored to the needs and resource constraints of TFs.

翻译：欧盟《数字服务法案》（DSA）引入了监管机制，用以管理网络有害内容。其中，"可信举报者"（TFs）的认定机制为具备经验、平台独立性以及识别和举报非法内容技能的实体提供认证。随着DSA中的TF角色实施约一年，我们采访了七个此类TF组织的代表，了解他们成为TF的经历及其对与在线平台及个人用户互动的影响。此外，我们应TF代表自身要求举办了一场研讨会（他们普遍希望分享这一新角色的经验并相互学习，而非孤立无援）。值得注意的是，我们发现：TF认证流程繁琐，工作量增加而资源未变，且平台优先级常与TF存在分歧。最后，我们提出未来研究建议，包括理解DSA中的用户代表性，以及制定符合TF需求与资源限制的标准化措施的必要性。