European Commission Vice-President Vera Jourova stressed on Monday that the fight against online hatred, which the French government wants to strengthen after the assassination of a professor, must be accompanied by the "
safeguards
" necessary to protect freedom of speech.
Read also: Twitter, the worst student in the fight against hate online
The European executive must unveil new legislation (“
Digital Services Act
”)
by the end of the year
to better regulate the tech giants, in terms of data management, disinformation and hate speech in particular.
Asked about the measures taken in France against online hatred following the murder on Friday of a history teacher, beheaded for showing caricatures of Muhammad to his students during a course on freedom of expression , the Czech commissioner in charge of “
values and transparency
” “
welcomed the government's action to investigate cases of illegal hate speech
”.
"
Those who are behind unacceptable messages calling for or justifying murders must respond to justice,
" she said in a statement sent by her services.
Social networks have been criticized for relaying messages stigmatizing the beheaded professor.
But Vera Jourova warned against any legislation that “
could undermine freedom of expression, when we are precisely trying to protect it
”.
To read also: Hatred online: the assassination of Samuel Paty revives the debate around an "Avia law" in France
In June, the Constitutional Council revoked the main provisions of the law against online hatred carried by LREM deputy Laetitia Avia, considering that they violated freedom of expression.
Ms. Avia told AFP that she intended to go back to the front lines "to
achieve at national and European level strong and demanding provisions vis-à-vis social networks, while protecting our freedom of expression
".
Vera Jourova for her part indicated that "
the Commission is working hard on legislation, the Digital Services Act, to ensure that illegal content is removed with the necessary safeguards to protect freedom of expression
".
“
Hatred knows no borders.
We must respond to them together, in a European way,
”she said.
The EU currently has a
voluntary
'
code of conduct
' against illegal hate speech launched in 2016, which has been signed by the social groups and networks Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Dailymotion, Jeuxvideo.com and TikTok.
