Social media companies will be hit with sanctions next month if they fail to remove ‘problematic content’ during riots under the European Union (EU)’s new content law, according to the French EU Internal Markets Commissioner Thierry Breton.
A total of 19 online platforms, including TikTok, Twitter, and Snapchat, must comply with government regulations aiming that claim to reduce illegal or harmful content spreading online. If they fail to do so, they risk being fined up to six percent of their annual income.
“When there is hateful content, content that calls – for example – for revolt, that also calls for killing and burning of cars, they will be required to delete [the content] immediately,” Breton argued during an interview on Monday.
“If they fail to do so, they will be immediately sanctioned. We have teams who can intervene immediately… “If they don’t act immediately, then yes, at that point we’ll be able not only to impose a fine but also to ban the operation [of the platforms] on our territory,” he added.
These measures follow a week of mass rioting and destruction – “unparalleled” since the French Revolution in 1789 – across France following the death of Nahel M. As a result, French President Emmanuel Macron announced last week that he considered removing French people’s access to social media platforms to pacify the riots.
