European Union regulators keep making headlines for their increased willingness to take big tech companies like Google to task over everything from perceived anti-competitive behavior to not moving fast enough to take down problematic content. It’s a bright line separating the hard-line approach in Europe from the more hands-off, light touch that U.S. regulators bring to the table against those same companies.
Indeed, the EU keeps turning up the heat, with the most recent push being word today that new rules are in the works that would slap big fines on social media giants like Facebook and Twitter if they’re found to be too slow in taking down terror-related content. EU Commissioner for Security Julian King gave a preview to the Financial Times of draft legislation apparently coming next month, new rules that would among other things have this as a centerpiece:
If law enforcement authorities find content published on a tech platform they mark as terrorist-related, that would start a clock for companies like Facebook. They’ll have one hour to take it down, or fines would kick in. “We cannot afford to relax or become complacent in the face of such a shadowy and destructive phenomenon,” King told the FT.
“The difference in size and resources means platforms have differing capabilities to act against terrorist content and their policies for doing so are not always transparent. All this leads to such content continuing to proliferate across the internet, reappearing once deleted and spreading from platform to platform.”
Any draft legislation would still need to win approval by a majority of the 28 member states in the EU, but that won’t likely be a problem. Germany, for example, has already introduced fines of up to the equivalent of $57 million for tech companies that let hate speech-related content linger, and British Prime Minister Theresa May is also on board with the sentiment. – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]President Trump on Saturday issued a tweet-storm following the removal of Alex Jones and his InfoWars shows from most major social media platforms earlier this month.
“Social Media is totally discriminating against Republican/Conservative voices,” the president wrote in the first of several tweets. “Speaking loudly and clearly for the Trump Administration, we won’t let that happen.”
Social Media is totally discriminating against Republican/Conservative voices. Speaking loudly and clearly for the Trump Administration, we won’t let that happen. They are closing down the opinions of many people on the RIGHT, while at the same time doing nothing to others…….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2018
…..Censorship is a very dangerous thing & absolutely impossible to police. If you are weeding out Fake News, there is nothing so Fake as CNN & MSNBC, & yet I do not ask that their sick behavior be removed. I get used to it and watch with a grain of salt, or don’t watch at all..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2018
….Too many voices are being destroyed, some good & some bad, and that cannot be allowed to happen. Who is making the choices, because I can already tell you that too many mistakes are being made. Let everybody participate, good & bad, and we will all just have to figure it out!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2018
The president did not indicate what steps his administration might take to prevent private companies from setting up and enforcing terms of service that have allowed them to discipline or shut down accounts for reported abuses. – READ MORE
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