On Thursday, the European Union tightened requirements to technological corporations, including Google from Alphabet Inc., Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. The regulator published general recommendations on immediate deletion of terrorist and other illegal materials from their European websites. Previously, some national governments demanded to impose legal liability on Internet companies for the information, posted on these platforms, Rambler reports quoting Dow Jones.
The European Commission stated that the technological companies should delete terrorist materials within one hour after receiving warning from the law enforcement authorities and Europol. The special employees should monitor deletion of materials, especially when using automatic methods so that the deletion does not touch the neutral content.
The technological firms cautiously observe the initiatives, which, in our opinion, can violate the freedom of speech. Their directors note that they already put the most efforts for observing EU requirements. EU regulators already concluded voluntary agreements with major Internet companies on deletion of such terrorist materials, as ISIS’ propagandist videos. The materials, fomenting hatred, should also be deleted from the websites, available in Europe.