EU mulls legislation in the fight against online hate speech
The European Union is considering legislative measures to harmonise how online platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Google take down hate speech and incitement to violence, a draft document seen by Reuters shows.
The proliferation of hate speech and fake news on social media has led to companies coming under increased pressure to take it down quickly.
In a draft policy paper, the European Commission says there is a "high degree of variation in the approaches taken to removal of illegal content - be it incitement to terrorism, hate speech, child sexual abuse material, or infringements of intellectual property rights".
"Such divergences may be justified in some cases (e.g. for certain types of illegal content); but in other cases they reduce the effectiveness of the system (e.g. by delaying the removal of terrorist propaganda)."
The Commission says it may come forward with legislative and/or non-legislative instruments by the end of the year to address "legal fragmentation and uncertainty related to the removal of illegal content by online platforms".
Germany last month unveiled a law which would fine social media companies up to €50 million if they fail to remove hate postings...