EU ministers approve plan to suppress hate on the Internet

Reuters reports that ministers of the EU Member States approved a plan on 23 May in Brussels which is meant to force the Facebook, Google and Twitter companies to more effectively eliminate hateful videos posted to their Internet platforms, the first legislative arrangements about such questions at EU level. Firms operating social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube will have to take steps to eliminate videos that defend terrorism and engage in hate speech.

According to an unnamed EU diplomat, the measures would not apply to live broadcasts, but just to video recordings uploaded to those platforms. The proposal must still be approved by the European Parliament, which previously advocated for similar measures to suppress hate on the Internet.

The companies Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter agreed last year with the European Commission on a code of conduct to aid with combating the dissemination of hate speech on the Internet. According to the code, firms must do their best within 24 hours of being advised that suspicious content has been posted to verify whether it breaks the rules or not.

If the content is found to be exceptionable, these businesses must deactivate access to it or delete it entirely. The European Commission has criticized the firms for not proceeding fast enough with their verifications.