Tech giants including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, X and YouTube agreed Monday to an updated EU code of conduct on countering illegal hate speech online.
The revised code of conduct will be integrated into the framework of the EU’s Digital Services Act, the EU regulation that aims to make the online environment safer and fairer.
The European Commission and the European Board for Digital Services welcomed the integration of the revised Code of conduct+, which encourages voluntary codes of conduct to tackle risks online. The Code has been signed by Dailymotion, Facebook, Instagram, Jeuxvideo.com, LinkedIn, Microsoft hosted consumer services, Snapchat, Rakuten Viber, TikTok, Twitch, X and YouTube.
The Commission hopes the Code of conduct+ will strengthen the way online platforms deal with content that EU and national laws define as illegal hate speech. “In Europe there is no place for illegal hate, either offline or online,” said EC vice-president Henna Virkkunen: “I welcome the stakeholders’ commitment to a strengthened Code of conduct under the Digital Services Act. Cooperation among all parties involved is the way forward to ensure a safe digital space for all.”
“Hatred and polarisation are threats to EU values and fundamental rights and undermine the stability of our democracies,” said Michael McGrath, Commissioner for Democracy and Consumer Protection: “The internet is amplifying the negative effects of hate speech. I intend to work tirelessly to counter hate speech and hate crime in the EU.”
The integrated Code of conduct will facilitate compliance with and the effective enforcement of the DSA when it comes to risks of dissemination of illegal content on their services. Specifically, the signatories of the Code of conduct+ commit to, among other things:
- Allow a network of ‘Monitoring Reporters’, which are not-for-profit or public entities with expertise on illegal hate speech, to regularly monitor how the signatories are reviewing hate speech notices.
- Undertake best efforts to review at least two thirds of hate speech notices received from Monitoring Reporters within 24 hours.
- Engage with well-defined and specific transparency commitments as regards measures to reduce the prevalence of hate speech on their services, including through automatic detection tools.
- Participate in structured multi-stakeholder cooperation with experts and civil society organisations that can flag the trends and developments of hate speech that they observe, helping to prevent waves of hate speech from going viral.
- Raise users’ awareness about illegal hate speech and the procedures to flag illegal content online.
The Code of Conduct on Countering Illegal Hate Speech Online +
Very Large Online Platforms and Very Large Online Search Engines
