The European Union’s (EU) proposed Terrorist Content Regulation continues to
face opposition from major tech companies including Google/YouTube and Mi


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Tech & Terrorism: EU Anti-Terror Law Facing Opposition From Big Tech

(New York, N.Y) – The European Union’s (EU) proposed Terrorist Content
Regulation continues to faceopposition
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from major tech companies including Google/YouTube and Microsoft. The new
regulation would allow EU member states to impose fines on tech firms of up to
four percent of their revenue for failure to consistently remove extremist
content from their platforms. It would also require a takedown of said
extremist content within one hour ofreceiving notice
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from public authorities. Given tech companies’ consistent inability to enforce
their own terms of service, the EU’s proposal is part of a growing trend by
legislative bodies to prescribe content moderation policies in an effort to
stymie the spread of extremist and terrorist material online. The Terrorist
Content Regulation builds upon Germany’s pioneering 2018 Network Enforcement
Act (NetzDG).

“The EU’s counterterrorism legislation sets a reasonable standard of one-hour
to take down extremist content. The longer terrorist propaganda and recruiting
materials remain online, the more its viewership will increase and the higher
the likelihood that it will be viewed, copied, and uploaded elsewhere,” said
Counter Extremism Project (CEP) Executive Director David Ibsen. “It is
therefore only sensible that governments are seeking to instill a duty of care
for tech companies to ensure the failure to remove content online does not
translate to real world harm. Instead of lobbying against such sensible public
policy, major tech companies should harness their extensive resources and
capabilities to work towards achieving the one-hour takedown goal. Moreover,
tech firms should proactively utilize industry consortiums such as the Global
Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) to better leverage technological
expertise and share information and best practices between large and small
firms, as its founders claim it was originally created to do. Doing so will
help keep extremist and terrorist material permanently off the open web.”

When NetzDG first entered into law, similar to the EU proposal, critics argued
that it would lead to both overreporting and the suppression of free speech,
but also the stifling of innovation, because smaller companies would not have
the resources needed to comply with the law. Ajoint report
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by CEP and the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) released in November
2018 showed these arguments were baseless and the concerns unfounded.NetzDG did
not result in a flood of reports or over-blocking, and the expense of
implementing NetzDG was minimal at one percent of total revenue.

This March, CEP Berlin released a follow-up NetzDG
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study that tested the tech industry’s compliance with the law between January
31 and February 14 of this year. The law in its current form requires online
platforms to remove “manifestly illegal” content within 24 hours only after it
has been reported by users.CEP’s study revealed that YouTube, Facebook, and
Instagram removed a mere 43.5 percent of clearly extremist and terrorist
content, even after that material was reported for their illegal nature under
the NetzDG. CEP Berlin’s findings suggested that this “notice and takedown”
method for removing illegal content can only be effective if platforms are
being searched continuously and systemically for such material.

To read the results of CEP Berlin’s NetzDG study and the policy paper, please
clickhere
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.

To read CEP and CEPS’ joint study on NetzDG, Germany’s NetzDG: A Key Test For
Combatting Online Hate, please click here
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.

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