Tim Berners-Lee: EU law to counter terrorist content harms freedom
Web founder Tim Berners-Lee, Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales and Mozilla CEO Mitchell Baker, among others, have criticized an EU bill to combat the spread of terrorist content on the internet in a letter to several MEPs.
In the letter, the signatories, a group that describes itself as ‘pioneers, technologists and innovators’, say that the proposal for the EU regulation will harm the Internet in Europe without making a significant contribution to the fight against terrorism. The critics argue that the regulation in its current form restricts the basic rights of European internet users and undermines innovation on the internet. They want EU politicians to take a closer look and make the necessary changes.
The drafters recognize that something may need to be done in the wake of the Christchurch attack and are not against any new rules or legislation. However, they emphasize that “the fight against terrorism does not absolve lawmakers from their responsibility to implement evidence-based laws that are proportionate, justified and actually contribute to the stated goal.”
One of the criticisms is that the term ‘terrorist content’ in the current proposal is ‘extremely broad’ and there is no clear exception for educational, journalistic or investigative purposes. According to Berners-Lee and the other signatories, this adds to the “risk of removing too many legal and important public statements.”
In addition, the letter drafters consider the regulation to be disproportionate, as it applies to all internet hosting services, with no distinction being made on the basis of which type of services are actually expected to be confronted with illegal content. There is also criticism of the obligation to remove content within sixty minutes of a notification, on pain of fines. This can put a significant burden on smaller companies providing services in Europe and favors large multinational platforms that already have high-quality content moderation systems in place.
Finally, the signatories note that the proposal sees automated upload filters as the solution for moderating terrorist content. This would give government agencies the power to determine how such upload filters and other proactive measures are designed and implemented. This, too, is technology that can only be paid for by major online services and will lead to the suppression of news reports about terrorist incidents, according to Berners-Lee and the dozen other signatories.
The European Commission submitted the regulation on September 12, partly on the basis of an appeal from EU leaders in June. At the end of last year, the Council of the EU took a negotiating position. On the basis of that mandate, the Council Presidency can start negotiations with the European Parliament.