Europe to step up fight against all types of hate speech online

The European Commission is stepping up its response to «hate speech» on digital platforms and plans to make every effort to ensure that the story of the annulment of the results of the presidential elections in Romania due to digital interference does not repeat itself in future elections.

As Ukrinform reports, this was stated in the European Parliament in Strasbourg by Henna Virkunen, Vice-President for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy of the European Commission, during a debate on protecting democracy on social media.

«This week we integrated the «Code of Conduct on Countering Illegal Hate Speech Online+» into the Digital Services Act. This will strengthen our response to all forms of hate speech online. From now on, hate speech, which will be marked with a special marker, will be assessed within 24 hours and removed if necessary», – the European Commissioner for Digital Affairs emphasized.

The Code of Conduct+ was signed by such giant platforms as Dailymotion, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Microsoft consumer services, Snapchat, Rakuten Viber, TikTok, Twitch, X and YouTube.

Next month, the Commission will focus on developing an algorithm of actions for monitoring and controlling digital platforms during the election period.

« On February 5-6, we will hold a strategic discussion on such issues as equality of opportunity between political parties and candidates, election integrity and risk management in the electoral context. In a broader sense, we work within the framework of the European Cooperation Network on Elections, which unites national authorities dealing with electoral issues, Virkunen stressed.

She hopes that platform providers will apply quick response practices in all future elections, especially after the situation in Romania.

«These are extraordinary events in the history of European democracy. We saw this last month in Romania, where the Constitutional Court annulled the presidential election after declassifying documents that showed the existence of a coordinated manipulative campaign on TikTok. We have opened official proceedings in this regard against TikTok», – said the European Commissioner.

According to Virkunen, at least 10 proceedings have been opened since the law on digital services came into force. One against X, three against TikTok, one against Aliexpress, two more against Meta's Facebook and Instagram, and one against Temu.

The European Commissioner also announced the start of consultations on the so-called Shield of European Democracy. It should become the next element of strengthening the fight against foreign information manipulation, interference and disinformation.