The Council of AGCOM, Italy’s communications authority, has recognized Argo Business Solutions S.r.l., to be its first ‘Trusted Flagger,’ in the meeting of January 22, 2025. The qualification was recognized in relation to the violation of intellectual property rights and other commercial rights, as well as the fight against online scams and fraud; pursuant to the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA).
AGCOM recognized that the qualifications following a preliminary investigation, in which it verified that the criteria established by Article 22, Paragraph 2 of the Digital Services Act were met by the applicant company, namely: having particular skills and expertise for the purposes of identifying, identifying and notifying illegal content; being independent of online platform providers and being able to carry out this reporting activity in a diligent, accurate and objective manner.
Reliable signallers must transmit to the Authority and publish an easily understandable and detailed annual report on the reports submitted, including an explanation of the procedures implemented to ensure the maintenance of their independence.
Role of the Trusted Flagger
The Trusted Flagger role is further described in Articles 35 (mitigation of risks), 42 (designated point of contact), 44 (standards), 61 (The flagger as an entity), 62 (a flagger’s reporting criteria and code of conduct), 87 (training about flaggers in large online organizations), and Article 91 (content moderation and interface design).
The Authority has the right to review, ex officio or by report, the persistence of the requirements provided for in art. 22 paragraph 2 of the Digital Services Act, also in the light of the adoption, by the European Commission, of the guidelines provided for in Article 22, paragraph 8 of the same Regulation.
Further reading
Illegal online content: First designation of a trusted reporter in Italy under the Digital Services Act. Press release. January 24, 2025. AGCOM (Automata per le Garanie Nelle Communicazione, Italy)
EU passes Digital Services and Digital Markets acts; misses on live piracy. Article. July 8, 2022. by Steven Hawley. Piracy Monitor
Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single Market for Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act). Regulation. October 19 2022. Parliament of the European Union
Why it matters
The role of the trusted signaller plays a fundamental role for the application of the Digital Services Act in the Member States of the European Union, in order to activate the mechanism for reporting illegal content and action provided for by Article 16 of the Digital Services Act against online platform providers, who must ensure that these reports are managed as a priority and decided without undue delay, said AGCOM.
