France passes a bill to stop hate speech online

The French parliament approved a measure aimed to make companies like Facebook and Google remove hateful content in a timely manner. The text is part of a larger internet regulation bill was adopted by the lower house of the Parliament, but still has to go through the upper chamber.

Once it is done, it would push companies to remove hate speech within 24 hours.

The measure is a result from a proposition made by the French president earlier this year, although lawmakers in the European country are divided what exactly shall qualify as hate speech and how would they regulate it in the bill. The basic idea is to remove content that incites or encourages hateful violence, discrimination, along with child pornography.

If the platforms do not remove the content in the time limit, they could face a fine of up to €1.25 million.

A similar law was already passed in neighboring Germany that is in effect since the beginning of this year. Companies there can face charges of up to €50 million.

The New York Times reported earlier this week that German authorities actually managed to fine Facebook €2 million after Mark Zuckerberg and co. failed to disclose the full number of hate-speech postings reported in H1 2019.

Via 1 • Via 2