Marketing 4 min read

EU issues Final Warning to Social Media Giants on Hate Speech

BeeBright | Shutterstock.com

BeeBright | Shutterstock.com

The European Commission has given an ultimatum to social media giants and web companies: get rid of hate speech and violent content on their platforms or face legal action.

This decision comes after years of trying to work together with social media companies to curb the situation yielded few results.

Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Microsoft have all in the past pledged to deal with a method for curbing user-generated hate speech and violent content in a timely fashion but, according to the EU, they haven’t lived up to their promises.

Facebook earlier this year said they were hiring 3000 people to amp up content moderation on their platform but the EU doesn’t feel like this has brought any improvement in how fast they act.

EU Isn’t Satisfied With the Status quo

“The situation is not sustainable: in more than 28% of cases, it takes more than one week for online platforms to take down illegal content,” said commissioner for the digital economy and society, Mariya Gabriel.

#EU warns #socialmedia companies to cut the #hatespeechClick To Tweet

The commission will be implementing new laws in the coming months to deal with social media companies if they fail to increase their efforts in dealing with the situation.

The commission wants the companies to invest more in the detection and timely removal of illegal content as well as prevent them from reappearing on their platforms.

In a press release last month, the commission said: “Given 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 – which is already illegal under EU law, both online and offline.”

It’s not clear what punitive measures the European Commision will put in place to deal with companies who do not conform to the rules.

However, with the commission’s history of slapping hefty fines on companies who don’t play by its rules, we’re sure punishments will be extreme.

Common Tools Suggested by the European Commission

The press release we linked to above lists a few common tools the European Commission feels online platforms should adopt. They are:

  • Detection and notification: Social media site controllers should make an effort to cooperated with “competent” government authorities. This would be achieved by selecting common “points of contact” to ensure immediate connections and rapid removal of flagged, illegal content. In order to speed up detection of illegal content, social media sites should work closely with “trusted flaggers”–these are highly-specialized figures with expert knowledge of what constitutes illegal content. As you might imagine, the EU also wants companies to make user-flagging readily available and automated detection protocols should also be more effective.
  • Effective removal: Because timeliness is important in cases of incitement of terrorism or other specific timeframes where serious harm could be caused, the commission wants flagged content to be removed as fast as possible. The commission mentions they will do more research into specific timeframes regarding illegal content. The commission feels social media platforms should be transparent with users regarding policies, past transgressions and specific statistics regarding the number of instances where illegal content was found and removed. The commission also suggests that platforms be careful not to let this censorship go to far and create “over-removal”.
  • Prevention of re-appearance: The commission suggests that social media platforms pay extra attention to repeat offenders and make sure tools are in place to disallow them from repeatedly posting illegal content. They again suggest that automated tools be developed for this expressed purpose in particular.

How do you feel about the EU’s warning? Is this necessary, or is it dangerous censorship?

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  1. SASHARD AVINUS October 17 at 11:20 am GMT

    I believe this is nothing more than a dangerous censorship on the common user aside from much of knowing what was done behind the scenes in a business sector or conduct arena where developers have their full share of testing on the public domain to that of I don’t know what business holds no accountability if so they knew the results or cause to a situation that could have been avoided.

    Also you talk about hate speech, it was groups like the Anonymous (hacker-rings) of many global regions, People who chant death to America (The issue of actors and people who don’t know life compared to their wealth = Holywood biggots and others of your sports), with anti-this-or-that, and the law with scandals of their own parties (democratic to republican leftist/liberal promotion and our race matters scandals), and other social networking groups in the conduct of rings from a world wide scenario.

    Investing more money into the situation will only make it so they can pay their way out or more damage be done because that does not insure that the provider is trustworthy to that of the legal justice system stable for a multitude unless it is traced to its trademark. How about pay the money the government ripped off from its people in the forms of published law unless there was some excuse of actuality in foundation.

    Including the histories to what tore up a distinction among the East to that of West and that of hey lets everyone chant death to the US or Israel (Your religious zealots on YouTube), to conspiracy theorist or people who clearly brainwash each generation into thinking) to that of lets put some man in office and you each had no shame but gambled the lives of many based on your senseless profit reasons to a false education.

    As you look at the past radicals compared to the future young radical, or the geeks of cyber, the other had reason compared to the senselessness of violence seen or observed today with a held grudge aside from the fact of government ripping off the common wealth of its people.

    (We call this the destruction of property damages and demolition of cultural boundaries compared to what also should be noted per say the loss of life is not worth the means.)

    As with regulatory making of distinctions and other private opinions on culture or race in relation to hate speech the world to me took a step backwards and not forward with its thinking though intellectual this may sound to be.

    Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Microsoft are sources of social business and providers, not the cause though it is people who promote from within and further out. YouTube would be an example of this and there is more violence in people’s opinions then there is actual reporting of world sides so you know it would have to be on the provider’s end in some cases who actually determines what is legit and non-legit according to their wants or limitations. (You know there are more social platforms not mentioned than these but notice how companies like to target American providers rather than their own to that of other sides).

    Notice in the article they target English speaking platforms. Try the other languages for once. And you will find more crime related activities cause it is so understandable to read print letters. – (problem with lack of English to technical support)

    I do not care which sector this comes from, the EU commission has no business running the states to that of every nation be separate to its law of land aside from the factor on being a moderate of world safety rather than playing political games. Even if history is known…

    So it is a wonder you have fake news when people do not see the news with posted correctly, or redirect cause people are looking for what is indeed meaningful. Others had shut their ears to what is truth based on eye witness compared to what is fiction to avoid the reality of it in the aftermath. And in the end some get persecuted for it.

    Same goes for the situation today with Korea and Iran (main threat circumstance), it is the people who suffer worldwide and not those held accountable for its cause because you as the providers did the damage and not the public aside from people trying to live their lives isolated from a mess (some not all). While at others did nothing and just sit back and let it happen and let others fight senseless or argue as idiots promote it from regions far.

    To yeah, complaining on a decision in the courts gets nothing done either like as that of Obamacare to get rid of it and failure to do so which is called forced policies that effect without being taken into consideration or voted on as if an executive order.

    -(Why I made this statement above – = has nothing to do with subject besides the factor of time which people complain lets do this but then repeal a solution = no solution at all due to the time constraints and people who argue to keep it in office.)

    Mainly I talk about how people in their time of bickering to much could solve a problem responsibly rather than promote lies on the mainstream and handle it later.

    I do believe that promoting propaganda online other places and calling it fake news is no solution either. If you want to handle your strategy situations I recommend not putting them on the main stream and just go to handle the issue unless otherwise stated a necessity.

    It is a bit ironic, that the number 3000, the hired workers reminds me of an estimated or so exact number to more of employees who got fired by Microsoft a while back due to some issue of the company in terms of an evaluation or report. But I do not remember why aside they tried to steal from the company and mainly resulting in reputation would lead to more criminality in some but not all cases as due to a factor of greed or stability.

    The European commission does understand its internet percentage or the methods used for online security yet have a different mindset of mind when it comes to access.
    As if everything were controlled by the government or a corporate head.

    For the wealthy this may profit you. But for the poor to be afflicted to the “so called” if there be such a thing as middle class… more regulations does only put a stumbling block on the people, and not that of the people who caused the situation.

    If you do so set a regulation in place, it needs to be stable and for all.

    Do it so for yourself on the public, you do it so on yourselves. And by the way, that image at the top of this article, is one of the hackers in a hood. I suggest they figure out who is who in their own (refers to elected officials or business) and if they want to do a polygraph monitoring on public, the public do the same to its leadership as to that of much.

    Your hackers are in the government or business of the head. So they will ripple its people.

    Your military is in the government so they will fight their way to what extent for what prosperity.

    And others just want to be left alone or live their lives rather than have to be thieves to steal it back from the ignorance which others in the past caused to the present day with that of an overcharged system want the cost lowered due to invalidity.

    Maybe then there would be valid reporting of more related and not slanted news.
    But the lives of others is more at stake aside from the fact much to little is isolative.
    This does not promote globalization but an understanding factor at least in my mind.

    Not all people had selfish intentions.

    And yes, this is opinion but factual.

    Myself included in this below.

    People are not just intellectual in thinking, They are idiots by being over analytical at the core basics of principle and terminological means in comprehension to the actuality of cases to sometimes twist or misunderstand. Some to gain, but others to interpret.

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    Soniya Singh July 21 at 9:29 am GMT

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