EU Commission formalises Big Tech effort to counter online hate speech

The European Commission on Monday formalised efforts by Big Tech companies to counter illegal hate speech online by integrating their industry commitments into the framework of the Digital Services Act (DSA), the bloc’s platform rules.

The Code of Conduct on countering illegal hate speech online – which was first drafted in 2016 – was signed by Dailymotion, Facebook, Instagram, Jeuxvideo.com, LinkedIn, Microsoft hosted consumer services, Snapchat, Rakuten Viber, TikTok, Twitch, X and YouTube.

They commit to setting up 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, to review at least two thirds of hate speech notices received within 24 hours and to raise, in cooperation with civil society organisations, users’ awareness about illegal hate speech and the procedures to flag illegal content online.

The formal recognition by the Commission — in a joint effort with national DSA coordinators — is designed to strengthen the way online platforms deal with content that EU and national laws define as illegal hate speech. 

“The integrated Code of conduct will facilitate compliance with and effective enforcement of the DSA when it comes to risks of dissemination of illegal content on their services,” the Commission said in a press release on Monday.

Platforms’ compliance will be audited annually. 

The Code of Practice on Disinformation is undergoing a similar process. In October, platforms requested the Commission to evaluate whether the rules can also get a formal place under the DSA.

The Commission has launched several probes into DSA compliance of several online platforms including X, TikTok and Meta’s Facebook and Instagram.

Earlier this month, Meta announced that it would drop its fact checkers in the US and replace them with a community notes system, similar to X, saying the company will get back to the “roots of free expression”.