Rate of removal of reported online hatred messages is down

An assessment of the European Commission of Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Jeuxvideo.com and Tiktok shows a drop in this rate compared to the last two years.

Le Monde

Nearly two-thirds of online hate messages reported in the European Union (EU) platforms are deleted, according to an evaluation Thursday, October 7 of the European Commission on March-April which shows a drop in messages. reported compared to the last two years.

This report is about Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, JeuxVideo.com, Tiktok, all signatories of the EU Code of Conduct to Combat illegal hatred speeches online, launched in 2016.

According to this sixth assessment, the platforms have withdrawn an average of 62.5% of the contents reported by 35 organizations to combat discrimination from 22 Member States between the 1 ^er March and the 14th April. This rate is less than the 71% recorded on average over the same period of six weeks in 2019 as in 2020.

If it decreased on Facebook and YouTube, however, this proportion increased on Twitter and Instagram. Tiktok, which was evaluated for the first time, withdrawn 80% of the reported contents. Hate speeches based on sexual orientation and xenophobia are most frequently cited.

Companies are committed to the Code of Conduct to consider the majority of suppression requests in less than twenty-four hours. The report review rate in this period remains high (81%), but also fell compared to 2020 (90%).

“We still have to make progress”

In total, some 4,500 reportings were transmitted to platforms, Facebook in the lead, then Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, JeuxVideo.com and Tiktok. Snapchat, Dailymotion and Microsoft, also signatories of the Code of Conduct, did not receive such requests during the evaluation period.

Online maintenance of contested messages is sometimes due to a divergence of assessment between the organization reporting and the platform, which evaluates the lawful nature of the content with regard to its internal rules and national laws.

This code, which was joined in June by LinkedIn, is based on a voluntary approach, but the EU is preparing a broad regulation of digital giants.

“We still have to make progress, by adopting the DSA [Digital Services Act], to ensure that it is possible to combat hatred online throughout the EU,” said European Commissioner at the justice? Didier Reynders? Arriving at a ministerial meeting in Luxembourg. This regulatory project is also consolidated, according to Brussels, by recent revelations of Facebook Frances Hauguen alert launcher.

“We must set rules and make sure that platforms make more accounts, do not just rely on voluntary programs,” Tweeted Wednesday the Vice-President of the European Commission, Vera Jourova, in charge of Values and transparency, after servicing with Frances Hauguen. “It’s time for the digital world to respect European values,” she added.

/Media reports.