Facebook, Twitter and Google + are in the sights of the European Union. It would like the three social networks to make some changes to their general conditions of use. The Union even threatened the three social networks of sanctions if they decided not to comply with their directives. What are the Union’s demands? And what is its objective?
This is not the first time that an official body or government has asked Facebook or another social network to modify any of its features or security measures. A few days ago, Facebook even declined Pakistan’s urgent request to change its identification system by replacing the email address with a phone number. Today, the situation is different. It is no longer a country that has opted for a repressive policy but of the European Union.
The European Union wants Twitter, Facebook and Google to take responsibility
What is the European Union’s request? The EU aims to simplify the process of removing illegal content from social networks. The process currently in place is rather complex and involves very little responsibility for each social network. The European Union rejects this attitude and therefore wants Google, Facebook and Twitter to take greater responsibility for the fight and the removal of illegal content. Astonishing, as we know that Facebook already deletes up to 66,000 publications a week!
The European Union also wants disputes to be dealt with between a European client and social networks not to be handled by the California court, as is currently the case. The headquarters of Google, Twitter and Facebook are indeed all located in the state of California. The judicial process is thus particularly complex.
The European Union would like more transparency in the process of processing illegal content on social networks. The Commission wants to receive more information on the reporting deadlines. Another request: the creation of a page specifically dedicated to alerts and requests coming from the authorities.
The three social networks will not have much time to think about the demand of the Union: the deadline has indeed been set at September. Currently, 2 of the 3 social networks have already made proposals to the European Union.
Will they all end up giving in to the demands of the EU? Are social networks fighting against the presence of illegal content online? Should Twitter and Google follow the example of Facebook and invest in a startup specializing in content protection like Source 3?
