EC formulates rules of conduct against hate speech on the internet together with tech companies

Together with Microsoft, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, the European Commission has drawn up a code of conduct against hate speech on the internet. This stipulates, among other things, that such content will be removed within 24 hours.

Such removal can, for example, be the result of a notification, the Committee states in a press release. In order to process these notifications, companies must develop a clear procedure with which they can respond quickly. After receiving a notice about illegal content, they should review it against their own rules and community policies. This should also be clearly communicated to the users.

The established rules of conduct also contain a definition of illegal hate-mongering content. This concerns statements that publicly incite violence or hatred against a group or member of a group, which is described on the basis of race, colour, religion, origin or ethnicity. On the other hand, freedom of expression must continue to be respected. That right applies not only to information or ideas that are positively received, but also to expressions that may offend, shock or disrupt the state or the population. This is laid down in European case law.

This shows that it will sometimes be difficult to estimate which expressions fall under hate speech and which should be protected under freedom of expression. European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Equality, Vĕra Jourová, says that ‘the rules are all the more necessary because social media is often a place where terrorist groups radicalize young people and spread violence’. The current code of conduct is part of a set of rules introduced last week.

The code of conduct has not come about without criticism. For example, the European civil rights organization EDRi has announced that it will no longer participate with Access Now in the ‘EU Internet Forum’, of which the tech companies are also a part. The organizations say they are not involved in the process of drafting the code. They also disagree with the fact that the code of conduct seems to take precedence over the law, because companies are now going to assess what is and is not allowed, while this is already laid down in the law. The code would therefore have been drawn up in an undemocratic manner, which would make it contrary to European fundamental rights.