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Hate Speech, Fake News: it is High Time to React

The fight against hate speech and fake news via social media will be an uphill struggle. It is estimated that between 15 and 20% of european citizens obtain their information via social networks. But this proportion can be up to 60% among young people aged 18 to 24 years. This shows how important it is to reflect on these matters which are at the core of democracy. It is through this miasma that the big internet players must do their utmost in fighting effectively this deadly curse. Under pressure of the authorities and governments but also of many NGO's, companies like Facebook, Google,YouTube and Twitter finally have agreed to respond seriously to those major concerns. In particular, Facebook and Google announced they would block websites in order to combat the spread of fake news. As regards hate speech the European Commission and IT companies have announced in May 2016 a "Code of Conduct" on illegal online hate speech. There are 2 key commitments. Firstly, the IT companies must put in place clear and effective processes to renew notifications regarding illegal hate speech on their services so they can remove or disable access to such content. But also they committed themselves to act in less than 24 hours. Almost 6 months on and alas, the european authorities have established that only 40% of notifications received had been examined in this 24 hour target timeframe. And inexplicably, the proportion of racist publications which were erased on the Web varies greatly across and within the Member States: more than 50% in Germany and France but only 4% in Italy! It is high time, therefore, that the IT companies take these major issues seriously. Otherwise legislation will be needed to contain this plague.

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