ponsulak/iStockBy IBTISSEM GUENFORD, ABC News
(PARIS) — The French lower house of Parliament passed a bill Wednesday requiring social media platforms to remove hate-filled and toxic posts within 24 hours or face massive fines.
The bill gives online platform operators 24 hours to take down racist and sexist posts and one hour to remove content promoting child pornography or terrorism.
Tech platforms failing to comply, could face fines up to 1.2 million euros (about $1.3 million).
Laetitia Avia, a member of the French National Assembly, congratulated the bill’s passing as “ending impunity and building a new regulation for social networks.”
However, the new legislation is being criticized. Opponents expressed concerns that social media platforms could potentially infringe on freedom of expression.
“We have clear rules in this area and have invested a lot in human and technological resources to better identify and remove this type of content. Regulation has a role to play in helping to combat it. We will work closely with the Superior Audiovisual Council and all stakeholders to implement the provisions of the law,” said a Facebook spokesperson.
“One cannot completely exonerate from responsibility the platforms,” said Loïc Rivière, CEO of Tech in France, a professional union representing software and internet companies. He said while putting the responsibility on platforms to police content is expedient, the solution is far from adequate.
“The harder the task is made for [social media platforms], the more the question of the effectiveness of the means arises,” he added.
The “enormous volume of data, problems with language and cultural interpretation could make the task of policing content, “difficult to bring a response within a very short time,” Rivière said.
The law goes into effect only after passing a final vote. Tech In France approached the authorities and asked to delay the law until the end of the year, in the same manner that Germany, which voted to enact a similar law “NetzDG” in 2018, gave six months to companies to adapt their algorithms and train their employees.
The proposed legislation comes following controversy surrounding Avia, who has been under fire for alleged sexist, homophobic and racist remarks. She has denied the allegations and announced she would file a complaint for defamation.
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