Another Big Tech clampdown on free speech online appears to be forthcoming after the European Union agreed in principle more online censorship laws on Saturday.
Members of the European Union have agreed on a new set of laws which will force Big Tech to take proactive action against “hate speech” and “disinformation online”.
The new Digital Services Act now appears likely to result in even further clampdowns on free speech online, with sites with more than 45 million active users to be forced to more actively police content deemed to be either illegal or “harmful”, with “disinformation” also being a major target of the newly agreed legislation.
According to a report by Euronews, all 27 EU member-states have agreed in principle to the new measures, which will see the likes of Amazon, Twitter, and Google fined for up to six per cent of their global revenue should they go against the act once implemented.
“With the DSA we help create a safe and accountable online environment,” said one EU mandarin regarding the new measures, which look set to come into effect by 2024 at the earliest.
“Platforms should be transparent about their content moderation decisions, prevent dangerous disinformation from going viral and avoid unsafe products being offered on market places,” they continued, as another political talking head bragged that the bloc was bringing an end to the “wild west” era of the internet.
Meanwhile, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has claimed the measure will actually protect freedom of speech — though did not mention the provisional inclusion of so-called “hate speech” in her statement posted online — and that it would allow users to challenge content moderation decisions either in or outside of court.
“The DSA will upgrade the ground-rules for all online services in the EU,” the Commission president said. “It will ensure that the online environment remains a safe space, safeguarding freedom of expression and opportunities for digital businesses.”
“It gives practical effect to the principle that what is illegal offline, should be illegal online,” she claimed.
While Europe looks to push more legislation to do with so-called “hate speech” online, one of the British government’s many champions of digital censorship has been left with egg on her face after appearing utterly clueless as to how the online world actually works.
In a video uploaded to social media on Friday, Nadine Dorries, the Boris Johnson administration’s digital tsar, appeared to struggle with basic IT terms while describing her role within the British state.
While bragging about wanting to make it so that the United Kingdom has “the safest internet in the world” — presumably through the use of various censorship measures the likes of which the secretary has championed while in government — the Conservative Party politician emphasised that it was her job to make sure that Britons had fast broadband with which they would be able to “downstream” movies, a term that has no direct technical relevance to the streaming or downloading of video content.
To add insult to injury, the government tsar also noted how it was her job as sports secretary to facilitate British athletic ventures, including by funding the likes of “tennis pitches” in local communities.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.