Another Word For It Patrick Durusau on Topic Maps and Semantic Diversity

December 5, 2016

Resisting EU Censorship

Filed under: Censorship,Free Speech,Government — Patrick Durusau @ 10:45 am

US tech giants like Facebook could face new EU laws forcing them to tackle hate speech by Arjun Kharpal.

From the post:

U.S. technology giants including Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, and Google’s YouTube could face new laws forcing them to deal with online hate speech if they don’t tackle the problem themselves, the European Commission warned.

In May, the four U.S. firms unveiled a “code of conduct” drawn up in conjunction with the Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, to take on hate speech on their platforms. It involved a series of commitments including a pledge to review the majority of notifications of suspected illegal hate speech in less than 24 hours and remove or disable access to the content if necessary. Another promise was to provide regular training to staff around hate speech.

But six months on, the Commission is not happy with the progress. EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova has commissioned a report, set to be released later this week, which claims that progress in removing offending material has been too slow.

I posted about this ill-fated “code of conduct” under Four Horsemen Of Internet Censorship + One. I pointed out the only robust solution to the “hate speech” problem was to enable users to filter the content they see, as opposed to the EU.

Fast forward 2 internet years (3 months = 1 internet year) and the EU is seeking to increase its censorship powers and not to empower users to regulate the content they consume.

Adding injury to insult, the EU proposes directives that require uncompensated expenditures on the part of its victims, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, and Google, to meet criteria that can only be specified user by user.

Why the first refuge of the EU for disagreeable speech is censorship I don’t know. What I do know is any tolerance of EU censorship demands encourages even more outrageous censorship demands.

The usual suspects should push back and push back hard against EU demands for censorship.

Enabling users to filter content means users can shape incoming streams to fit their personal sensitivities and dislikes, without impinging on the rights of others.

Had Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, and Google started developing shareable content filters when they proposed their foolish “code of conduct” to the EU last May, they would either be available or nearly so by today.

Social media providers should not waste any further time attempting to censor on behalf of the EU or users. Enable users to censor their own content and get out of the censorship business.

There’s no profit in the censorship business. In fact, there is only expense and wasted effort.

PS: The “EU report” in question won’t be released until Wednesday, December 7, 2016 (or so I am told).

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