Brussels welcomes speedier Facebook, Twitter responses to hate speech
Vera Jourova - Photo EC
(BRUSSELS) - 89 per cent of flagged content is removed by tech giants Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter within 24 hours and 72% of the content deemed to be illegal hate speech is removed, the EU reported on Monday.
The figures, reported by the European Commission in its fourth evaluation on the EU Code of Conduct on countering illegal hate speech online. compare to 40% and 28% respectively when the Code was first launched in 2016.
"Illegal hate speech online is not only a crime, it represents a threat to free speech and democratic engagement," said the Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova: "In May 2016, I initiated the Code of conduct on online hate speech, because we urgently needed to do something about this phenomenon. Today, after two and a half years, we can say that we found the right approach and established a standard throughout Europe on how to tackle this serious issue, while fully protecting freedom of speech. "
Since its launch in 2016, the Code of Conduct has been delivering continuous progress, and the recent evaluation confirms that IT companies provide a swift response to racist and xenophobic hate speech content notified to them. However, the Commission says they do need to improve their feedback to the users notifying content and provide more transparency on notices and removals.
It adds that while companies do remove illegal content more and more rapidly, this does not lead to over-removal: the removal rate, it adds, indicates that the review made by the companies continues to respect freedom of expression.
The EU executive says the Code has also helped partnerships between civil society organisations, national authorities and the IT platforms to be established on awareness raising and education activities.
Four new companies decided to join the Code in the course of 2018: Google+, Instagram, Snapchat, Dailymotion. The French gaming platform Webedia (jeuxvideo.com) has also announced its participation.
Code of Conduct on countering illegal hate speech online
Factsheet with key figures on the fourth monitoring of the Code of Conduct
Factsheet: How the Code of Conduct helped countering illegal hate speech online
Fourth evaluation of the Code of Conduct countering illegal hate speech online - background guide