US internet companies in EU agree to block illegal online hate speech

01 Jun 2016

1

Four major US internet companies have agreed to block illegal hate speech from their services in Europe within 24 hours, in line with new EU rules amidst mounting pressure to monitor and control content.

The new EU "code of conduct on illegal online hate speech" states that Facebook Inc, Google's YouTube, Twitter Inc and Microsoft will review reports of hate speech in less than 24 hours and remove or disable access to the content if necessary.

The action comes in response to a surge in antisemitic, anti-immigrant and pro-Islamic State commentary on social media. Choosing to downplay the significance of the deal, the companies said it was a simple extension of what they already did. Unlike in the US, many forms of hate speech, such as pro-Nazi propaganda, are illegal in some or all European countries, and the major internet companies had the technology to block content on a country-by-country basis.

However, according to people who are knowledgeable about the complicated world of internet content filtering, the EU agreement formed part of a broad and worrisome trend toward more government restrictions.

"Other countries will look at this and say, 'This looks like a good idea, let's see what leverage I have to get similar agreements,'" said Daphne Keller, former associate general counsel at Google and director of intermediary liability at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society, Reuters reported.

"Anybody with an interest in getting certain types of content removed is going to find this interesting."

Meanwhile the EU said in a press release: ''The Commission together with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Microsoft (''the IT companies'') today unveil a code of conduct that includes a series of commitments to combat the spread of illegal hate speech online in Europe.

''The IT companies support the EC and EU member states in the effort to respond to the challenge of ensuring that online platforms do not offer opportunities for illegal online hate speech to spread virally. They share, together with other platforms and social media companies, a collective responsibility and pride in promoting and facilitating freedom of expression throughout the online world. However, the Commission and the IT companies recognise that the spread of illegal hate speech online not only negatively affects the groups or individuals that it targets, it also negatively impacts those who speak out for freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination in our open societies and has a chilling effect on the democratic discourse on online platforms.

''In order to prevent the spread of illegal hate speech, it is essential to ensure that relevant national laws transposing the Council Framework Decision on combating racism and xenophobia are fully enforced by member states in the online as well as the in the offline environment. While the effective application of provisions criminalising hate speech is dependent on a robust system of enforcement of criminal law sanctions against the individual perpetrators of hate speech, this work must be complemented with actions geared at ensuring that illegal hate speech online is expeditiously reviewed by online intermediaries and social media platforms, upon receipt of a valid notification, in an appropriate time-frame. To be considered valid in this respect, a notification should not be insufficiently precise or inadequately substantiated.''

Vera Jourová, EU Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, said, "The recent terror attacks have reminded us of the urgent need to address illegal online hate speech. Social media is unfortunately one of the tools that terrorist groups use to radicalise young people and racist use to spread violence and hatred. This agreement is an important step forward to ensure that the internet remains a place of free and democratic expression, where European values and laws are respected. I welcome the commitment of worldwide IT companies to review the majority of valid notifications for removal of illegal hate speech in less than 24 hours and remove or disable access to such content, if necessary."

Twitter's head of Public Policy for Europe, Karen White, commented: ''Hateful conduct has no place on Twitter and we will continue to tackle this issue head on alongside our partners in industry and civil society. We remain committed to letting the Tweets flow. However, there is a clear distinction between freedom of expression and conduct that incites violence and hate. In tandem with actioning hateful conduct that breaches Twitter's Rules, we also leverage the platform's incredible capabilities to empower positive voices, to challenge prejudice and to tackle the deeper root causes of intolerance. We look forward to further constructive dialogue between the EC, member states, our partners in civil society and our peers in the technology sector on this issue.''

Business History Videos

History of hovercraft Part 3...

Today I shall talk a bit more about the military plans for ...

By Kiron Kasbekar | Presenter: Kiron Kasbekar

History of hovercraft Part 2...

In this episode of our history of hovercraft, we shall exam...

By Kiron Kasbekar | Presenter: Kiron Kasbekar

History of Hovercraft Part 1...

If you’ve been a James Bond movie fan, you may recall seein...

By Kiron Kasbekar | Presenter: Kiron Kasbekar

History of Trams in India | ...

The video I am presenting to you is based on a script writt...

By Aniket Gupta | Presenter: Sheetal Gaikwad

view more