Social media companies ordered to stop terrorism content
TikTok, X and Meta’s Instagram include terrorism content. They must therefore take specific measures to protect their services from being used for terrorist content, the Irish national media regulatory authority has decided. The companies have their European headquarters in Ireland which means that the Irish authority acts on behalf of the EU.
The decision comes after EU authorities have issued two or more final orders to remove terrorist content in the last 12 months.
The companies will now have to take specific measures to prevent services from being used for the dissemination of terrorist content and to report on the measures they have taken.
“These measures shall be effective, targeted and proportionate and respectful of the fundamental rights of users. Among the measures a hosting service provider exposed to terrorist content is required to take is the inclusion in its terms and conditions of provisions to address the misuse of its service for the dissemination to the public of terrorist content”, the Irish commission says.
If the commission finds that the companies have not done enough, it can impose fines of up to 4% of the companies’ global turnover.
To counter terrorists’ misuse of the internet, the EU in April 2021 adopted a regulation on dissemination of terrorist content online. The new rules apply from 7 June 2022.
Terrorist content is defined as text, images, audio, video that can be used to incite or instruct terrorist acts or make people join terrorist groups.
The rules apply to all providers offering services in the EU.
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