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Law against online hatred passed without enthusiasm

2020-05-13T18:51:29.850Z


The text carried by Laetitia Avia requires platforms to remove "manifestly hateful" content within 24 hours.


It is in front of a sparse hemicycle, sanitary measures oblige, that the law against online hatred was definitively adopted by the National Assembly. "We must put an end to the impunity that we see on social networks" , said before the debates his rapporteur, MP LREM Laetitia Avia. “We can no longer count on the goodwill of platforms. It's up to the state to set clear rules , added Secretary of State for Digital Cédric O.

Read also: Accused of racist, sexist and homophobic remarks, Laetitia Avia (LREM) will file a complaint for defamation

The text, born from a national plan to combat racism and anti-Semitism dating from 2018, has rubbed throughout its legislative journey to distrust of the opposition, but also of certain associations for the defense of minorities , such as Inter-LGBT, or the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights.

Political opponents have denounced a text threatening freedom of expression, which is in addition to the already controversial law against "fake news", adopted at the end of 2018, or to "Désinfox Coronavirus", this space on the government site grouping press articles and urgently withdrawn in the face of media protests.

Insult, provocation or call to hatred

The law requires large platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or YouTube to remove any "manifestly hateful" content within 24 hours of being reported to them by their users. Are concerned: the insult, the provocation or the call to hatred against people because of their religion, sexual orientation or origins. The denial and praise of crimes against humanity are also affected, as is online sexual harassment. Any failure will be penalized with a fine of up to 1.25 million euros, and the CSA will ensure that the platforms comply with their new obligations. A section of the text, added along the way, also sets a limit of one hour for the removal of terrorist and child pornography content reported by the authorities.

Risk of improper censorship

Opponents of the text deplore the fact that the characterization of "manifestly illicit" content is placed in the hands of social networks, and not the courts. "These explicit messages do not need a judicial procedure of several months to be withdrawn," said Frédéric Potier, interministerial delegate for the fight against racism, anti-Semitism and anti-LGBT hatred. "This text is not perfect, but it answers an important problem." Another fear is that the platforms will censor the content reported in order to evade financial sanctions. This argument is taken up by social networks. "The regulator must be careful when he wants to entrust a question of the legality of a matter to a private company, rather than referring to justice," Monika Bickert, director of content policy at Le Figaro , said in February. Facebook. "Dealing with gray content, which is difficult to qualify, requires trained and qualified moderators, because artificial intelligence cannot do everything ," adds Loïc Rivière, director of Tech In France, which represents platforms in particular. The coronavirus will prevent the rapid recruitment and training of the necessary staff. ” The platforms therefore ask to postpone the entry into force of the text, scheduled for July 1.

The LR senators for their part submit a referral to the Constitutional Council. "Non-compliance with French and European standards guaranteeing freedom of expression" , "disproportionality" ... Nothing is wrong with this bill, they plead to the Elders. As for the terrorism and fight against child pornography component, it should not appear in the text. The Constitutional Council is expected to rule by June.

The objective is to target the big players, those who present the greatest risk of wide spread of hate content.

In the meantime, the battle will shift to the field of the decrees implementing the text. It will be a question of determining which sites will be really concerned by the new law. It is not yet decided whether the forums and the comment sections of the news sites will be affected. In addition, a threshold, set according to the number of visitors to the site, must be defined to save the little ones from applying the heavy obligations provided. "The objective is to target the big players, those who present the greatest risk of the wide spread of hate content ," we explain in the entourage of Cédric O. But we also want to avoid any phenomenon of hate content transfer to sites not covered. " Right-wing activists have already migrated to VKontakte, the Russian Facebook. The puzzle is not over.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-05-13

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