The European Parliament voiced its support of a proposed regulation imposing a fine of up to 4% of an online service provider’s turnover if it does not remove terrorism-inciting content within one-hour of notification by authorities.
The proposed regulation also requires Internet service providers to take proactive measures to protect their services against the dissemination of terroristic content. The measures must be effective, targeted and proportionate to the risk and level of exposure to the terroristic content. However, while doing so, online service providers must have regard to the fundamental rights of the users, and the fundamental importance of the freedom of expression. Human oversight shall be required in order to determine whether the content is terroristic in nature.
Internet giants presently rely on a combination of automated tools and human representatives to identify and remove extremist content. The EU legislator has also agreed that authorities should consider unintentional delays by small and medium businesses and startups, to be a mitigating factor when determining the types and level of penalties. This recognized that small companies do not have the resources to implement advanced monitoring tools like Internet giants can.
The proposed regulation was approved in first reading at the EU Parliament and must still past a number of legislative approvals before being finalized into law.
CLICK HERE to read the draft report on the proposed regulation.
This article was published in the Internet, Cyber and Copyright Group’s April 2019 Newsletter.
For more information, please contact Haim Ravia – Senior Partner and Chair of the Internet, Cyber and Copyright Group. HRavia@pearlcohen.com
