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Platform Council
October: making the next step count
Dear members,
October has been a month of turning evidence into decisions. Our work is not finished when a pattern becomes visible. We have to describe it clearly, invite challenge, decide together what should change, and then ask the people with the power to act. This month, members moved several parts of that process forward at once.
What moved this month
On 13 October, consultation opened on FP-001. That consultation remains open through 12 November. On 20 October, TR-001 passed the five-part pattern test: Volume, Frequency, Consistency, Spread and Corroboration. Passing the test is not a conclusion about any one company. It means the reported practice is sufficiently repeated and supported for the council to begin drafting a proposed response.
On 29 September, we proposed eight mid-sized platforms for Wave 2; letters to them are scheduled to be sent on 17 November. The individual draft letters, RC/PL/2026/10 through RC/PL/2026/17, were prepared on 27 October. They are scheduled to be sent on 17 November. These are proposed CEO seats in our process, not claims that any of the recipients has agreed to participate.
On 26 October, the Assembly ballot opened on CF-001, the Cashflow Council’s proposed standard. It closes on 9 November. Members should read the draft, consider the consultation record and cast a vote. A ballot is not a formality: it is how the Assembly decides whether a proposed fix has earned its authority.
Our Q3 report and “First Eight Months” report also bring the work so far into view. They are records of progress, not declarations that the problems are solved. The Platform Fairness Standard remains adopted; the first CEO letters were delivered in August, and no replies are on record. The next step for the Wave 2 letters is still ahead.
The numbers as of 27 October
Reseated has 1,786 members seated across 49 countries. Members have filed 5,436 reports from 50 countries. The difference matters: reports have reached us from a wider set of countries than the membership currently represents. Across the councils, reports number 1,962 for Platform, 1,358 for Cashflow, 712 for Fair Play, 538 for Trade, 381 for Resilience, 307 for Red Tape and 178 for Team.
The Platform Council has 529 members across 49 countries and 1,962 reports from 50 countries. The median amount at stake in those reports is approximately US$4,104. Reports record 1,097 account suspensions and 865 cases involving funds held. Members’ teams range from one-person operations to businesses with 50–249 people: 36% say “just me,” 43% have 2–9 team members, 17% have 10–49, and 4% have 50–249. There were 51 Platform reports in the last 30 days.
These figures are not interchangeable with a count of every small business facing the same practice. They are evidence gathered from people who chose to report to us. But they help show why clear notice, a specific reason, human review and a time limit on payout holds are practical protections, not abstract preferences. MSMEs account for about 90% of businesses worldwide and roughly 60–70% of employment, according to the UN; the ILO estimates that they provide about 70% of employment globally.12
One member’s account
An anonymous member described discovering that their marketplace account had been suspended while a payout was also on hold. The notice identified a policy category but did not point to the listing or transaction at issue. The member submitted the requested documents, then had to keep checking for an update without knowing whether a person had reviewed the case or when the held funds might be released. Meanwhile, bills did not pause: wages and the next order still had to be planned. The member’s central request was straightforward: tell me what needs attention, let a person review my response, and give me a date for the money.
I share this without a company name, a business name or identifying detail. It is one person’s experience, not a finding about every platform or every case. But the sequence is familiar in the reports: a consequential decision, an explanation too general to act on, and uncertainty about review and timing. A fair process does not guarantee that every decision changes. It does give a business a meaningful way to understand and challenge a decision that can affect its ability to operate.
What we learned
First, a large report count is useful only when we preserve the distinctions inside it. Account suspensions and held funds overlap in real life, but they are not the same problem. A person may face one, the other, or both. The Platform Fairness Standard addresses the decision process across these situations while keeping the requested protections specific.
Second, participation has to continue after a consultation closes or a draft is published. Members need to see what changed, what did not, and why. Our CF-001 ballot is the next test of that principle. Please read the text and use the voting period to make a decision, including a decision to oppose it if that is your considered view.
Third, international reach requires consistent protections. A small business should not have to accept a weaker explanation or a less meaningful review simply because it operates in a different country. The standard adopted in August asks platforms to apply the same basic protections in every country where they operate.
What comes next
Through 9 November: vote on CF-001.
Through 12 November: submit comments on FP-001.
17 November: scheduled delivery of the eight Wave 2 letters.
At the next Open Table: continue the monthly exchange across regions and councils; the Open Tables remain a place to question the evidence and the proposed responses.
Please keep reporting what happened, when it happened and what response you received. Specific records help us test patterns without turning one person’s account into an accusation against an entire sector. If you have already contributed, thank you. If you are new, you do not need a polished submission. A clear account of the practice and its effect is valuable.
And thank you to Amina in Accra, Rafael in São Paulo and Mei in Kuala Lumpur for helping members find their way through the evidence and consultation process. I am grateful for the care you have brought to work that is often difficult to revisit. Thank you as well to every member who reported, read a draft, challenged an assumption or made time to vote.
We are building a process that asks for evidence, makes room for disagreement and gives members a real decision. October moved that process forward. The work now is to finish the consultations well and make the next decisions count.
With respect,Robert NikicAdvisory Council Chair, Reseated CouncilsUnited States
Notes and sources
- United Nations, Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day. 2 International Labour Organization, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. ↩