The results of a report by the European Commission suggest that US tech giants Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Microsoft aren’t responding to cases of online hate speech fast enough. According to the EU’s code of conduct to combat illegal online hate speech, which was implemented in May 2016 and agreed upon by all big players of the IT-sector, technology companies are required to review reports of hate speech less than 24 hours after they were first reported. However, the results of the first assessment of this new code of conduct indicate, that only 40 percent of all notifications of hate speech were acted upon within a 24-hour timeframe.
European Commissioner for Justice Věra Jourová said in a statement this week: "It is our duty to protect people in Europe from incitement to hatred and violence online. This is the common goal of the code of conduct.”
Twelve NGOs based in nine EU countries analyzed the responses to hate speech notifications over a six-week timeframe for the evaluation during October and November 2016. The findings, according to the European Commission, indicate that among the 600 notifications of online hate speech made in total, 28 percent led to a removal, 40 percent of all responses were received within 24 hours, while another 43 percent arrived after 48 hours.
Article: Europe Presses American Tech Companies to Tackle Hate Speech
