Snapchat latest IT platform to join EU Code of Conduct to fight illegal hate speech online
Snap.Inc announced on May 7 2018 that it is joining the EU’s Code of Conduct on countering illegal online hate speech.
It is the seventh major IT platform committing to combat this phenomenon, and the next additional participant after Instagram and Google+ announced their participation in January 2018.
Vĕra Jourová, Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, said, “I welcome Snapchat’s commitment to tackle illegal online content.
“The growing number of participants proves that the EU Code of Conduct is an efficient way to make the internet a safer place. This is particularly important as it will help protect the younger generations that use Snapchat.”
To respond to the proliferation of racist and xenophobic hate speech online, the European Commission and four major IT companies (Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and YouTube) presented a “Code of conduct on countering illegal hate speech online” in May 2016, the European Commission said.
Since then, the Commission with the help of NGOs has carefully monitored how the code is implemented by the companies.
“The latest monitoring exercise in January 2018 showed that the code is delivering important progress in the response to hate speech notices: 70 per cent of the content is removed and in more than 81 per cent of the cases this happens within 24 hours,” the Commission said.
The Commission has also recently adopted a tecommendation to more generally reinforce the EU response to illegal content online and will decide whether additional steps are necessary in the coming months, the statement said.
(Image: howtostartablogonline.net)
