Emptied of its substance by the Constitutional Council last June, the law against online hatred will return to the political debate, but in another form.
Asked by the Obs, the deputy Lrem Laetitia Avia specifies from the outset that the flagship measure of the first version, the obligation to remove in less than 24 hours hateful content reported by Internet users, was no longer in the game.
“
We have recognized that this is no longer the workhorse.
Rather, we want to focus on the process leading to the withdrawal, with much greater demand and vigilance
, ”she explains.
The MP will rely on the bill against separatism, presented on December 9 and debated in the National Assembly in January.
"
There will be in the bill a whole title devoted to the fight against hate speech and illicit content on the Internet
", she announces.
Two measures have already been taken: the creation of a new offense of endangering through the disclosure of personal data, and a new simplified administrative procedure to fight against hate sites.
Others will be added.
The fight will also be brought to European level with the Digital Services Act, which will be presented by the Commission on December 2.
"
We are campaigning for the Digital Service Act to be as ambitious as possible, with strong obligations vis-à-vis the platforms
", explains Laetitia Avia, who says she is in contact with Commissioner Thierry Breton.
Transparency on online moderation
The parliamentary group La République en Marche wants to impose more obligations on social networks.
First of all, transparency about their moderation teams, the resources allocated to them and the way they work.
“
For example, I can't tell you anything about the Twitter moderators: I don't know where they are, I don't know how they are trained, I don't even know how many there are - I think very few.
We should know all that,
”laments the member.
The latter proposes to set “
moderation obligations, with human, technical and financial resources that are well proportional to their activity (...) concretely, [we want] the platforms to recruit thousands of moderators.
"
The MP also says she is in favor of the transparency of algorithms, and in particular in the field of automatic removal of problematic content.
“
I'm not against the practice, but you have to know what is taken away.
Is it the worst content, the most atrocious, the most terrorist, the most illegal?
If so, then the authorities must be systematically informed
”so that the latter act against the authors of this content, argues Laetitia Avia.
The identification of the latter by the platforms is also a key element of cooperation.
"
We need interlocutors on the territory, at least of the European Union - because the requisitions sent to the United States, that does not work
", she recalls.
An "Internet license" for college students
Laetitia Avia resuscitates a measure of the first law against online hatred with the creation in Paris of a "
digital prosecution
" which will deal with these cases and initiate proceedings against their authors.
A platform for reporting hateful content and cyberbullying, complementary to Pharos, will make it possible to file a complaint online.
The educational component is not forgotten.
The member suggests the creation of an "
Internet license
" for secondary school students, "
a small examination of the same order as the school road safety certificate which would make it possible to raise awareness from an early age to the use of social networks
".
It also proposes that civic service staff be assigned to associations that fight against cyberbullying, such as e-Enfance, in order to support them in their work.