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Social media giants have again been put on notice that they need to do more to speed up removals of hate speech and other illegal content from their platforms in the European Union.<\/p>\n
The bloc\u2019s executive body, the European Commission today\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0a set of \u201cguidelines and principles\u201d aimed at pushing tech platforms to be more pro-active about takedowns of content deemed a problem. Specifically it\u2019s urging they build tools to automate flagging and re-uploading of such content.<\/p>\n \u201cThe increasing availability and spreading of terrorist material and content that incites violence and hatred online is a serious threat to the security and safety of EU citizens,\u201d it said in a press release, arguing that illegal content also \u201cundermines citizens\u2019 trust and confidence in the digital environment\u201d and can thus have a knock on impact on \u201cinnovation, growth and jobs\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven their increasingly important role in providing access to information, the Commission expects online platforms to take swift action over the coming months, in particular in the area of terrorism and illegal hate speech \u2014 which is already illegal under EU law, both online and offline,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n In a statement on the guidance, VP for the EU\u2019s Digital Single Market, Andrus\u00a0Ansip, described the plan as \u201ca sound EU answer to the challenge of illegal content online\u201d, and added:\u00a0\u201cWe make it easier for platforms to fulfil their duty, in close cooperation with law enforcement and civil society. Our guidance includes safeguards to avoid over-removal and ensure transparency and the protection of fundamental rights such as freedom of speech.\u201d<\/p>\n The move follows a voluntary Code of Conduct, unveiled by the Commission\u00a0last year<\/a>, with Facebook, Twitter, Google\u2019s YouTube and Microsoft signed up to agree to remove illegal hate speech which breaches their community principles in less than 24 hours.<\/p>\n In a recent assessment<\/a>\u00a0of how that code is operating on hate speech takedowns the Commission said there had been some progress. But it\u2019s still unhappy that a large portion (it now says ~28%) of takedowns are still taking as long as a week.<\/p>\n It said it will monitor progress over the next six months to decide whether to take additional measures \u2014 including the possibility of\u00a0proposing legislative if it feels not enough is being done.<\/p>\n Its\u00a0assessment (and possible legislative proposals) will be completed by May 2018. After which it would need to put any proposed new rules to the European Parliament for MEPs to vote on, as well as to the European Council. So it\u2019s likely there would be challenges and amendments before a consensus could be reached on any new law.<\/p>\n Some individual EU member states have been pushing to go further than the EC\u2019s voluntary code of conduct on illegal hate speech on online platforms. In April<\/a>, for example, the German cabinet backed proposals to hit social media firms with fines of up to\u00a0\u20ac50 million if they fail to promptly remove illegal content.<\/p>\n A committee of UK MPs also called for the government to consider similar moves earlier this year<\/a>. While the UK prime minister has led a push by G7 nations<\/a> to ramp up pressure on social media firms to expedite takedowns of extremist material in a bid to check the spread of terrorist propaganda online.<\/p>\n That drive goes even further than the current EC Code of Conduct \u2014 with a call for\u00a0takedowns of extremist material to take place within two hours<\/a>.<\/p>\n However the EC\u2019s proposals today on tackling illegal content online appears to be attempting to pass guidance across a\u00a0rather more expansive bundle of content, saying the aim is to \u201cmainstream good procedural practices across different forms of illegal content\u201d \u2014 so apparently seeking to roll hate speech, terrorist propaganda and child exploitation into the same \u201cillegal\u201d bundle as copyrighted content. Which makes for a far more controversial mix.<\/p>\n (The EC does explicitly state the measures are not intended to be applied in respect of \u201cfake news\u201d, noting this is \u201cnot necessary illegal\u201d, ergo it\u2019s one online problem it\u2019s not seeking to stuff into this conglomerate bundle. \u201cThe problem of fake news will be addressed separately,\u201d it adds.)<\/p>\n The Commission has divided its set of illegal content \u201cguidelines and principles\u201d into three areas \u2014 which it explains as follows:<\/p>\n Ergo, that\u2019s a whole lot of \u201cautomatic tools\u201d the Commission is proposing commercial tech giants build to block the uploading of a poorly defined bundle of \u201cillegal content\u201d.<\/p>\n Given the mix of vague guidance and expansive aims \u2014 to apparently apply the same and\/or similar measures to tackle issues as different as terrorist propaganda and copyrighted material \u2014 the guidelines have unsurprisingly drawn swift criticism.<\/p>\n MEP Jan Philip Albrecht, for example, couched them as \u201cvague requests\u201d, and described the approach as \u201cneither effective\u201d (i.e. in its aim of regulating tech platforms) nor \u201cin line with rule of law principles\u201d. He added a big thumbs down.<\/p>\n No rules, just vague requests. That\u2018s neither effective approach to regulating plattforms nor is it in line with rule of law principles. ? https:\/\/t.co\/wDriIIHEBQ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Jan Philipp Albrecht (@JanAlbrecht) September 28, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n He\u2019s not the only European politician with that criticism, either. Other MEPs have warned the guidance is a \u201cstep backwards\u201d for the rule of law online \u2014\u00a0seizing specifically on the Commission\u2019s call for automatic tools to prevent illegal content being re-uploaded as a move towards upload-filters (which is something the executive has been pushing for as part of its controversial plan to\u00a0reform the bloc\u2019s digital copyright rules<\/a>).<\/p>\n \u201cInstalling censorship infrastructure that surveils everything people upload and letting algorithms make judgement calls about what we all can and cannot say online is\u00a0an attack on our fundamental rights,\u201d writes MEP Julia Redia in another\u00a0response<\/a>\u00a0condemning the Commission\u2019s plan. She then goes on to list a series of examples where algorithmic filtering failed\u2026<\/p>\n\n
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