Facebook May Be Told to Censor Users' Hateful Posts Globally

Facebook may be ordered to remove offensive content posted by users in the EU and then also hunt for similar posts anywhere in the world, according to Bloomberg, citing an EU court opinion. Facebook warned that this is a threat to freedom of speech.

Since the EU’s law for digital services and electronic commerce “does not regulate the territorial scope of an obligation to remove information disseminated via a social network platform, it does not preclude a host provider from being ordered to remove such information worldwide,“ Advocate General Maciej Szpunar of the EU Court of Justice said. Scrutiny of Facebook in the EU has intensified since the bloc introduced GDPR. Antitrust regulators too have been probing the social network over how it tracks users’ internet browsing.

The ruling by the EU court, expected in a few months, will help clarify to what extent social media companies such as Facebook must police posts by users worldwide. The case seeks to establish how far-reaching EU law, or the powers of the bloc’s courts go, in protecting EU users of online social media companies that can be accessed from around the globe.

The advocate general’s opinion “undermines the long-standing principle that one country should not have the right to limit free expression in other countries,“ Facebook said in an emailed statement. The company added that it hopes the EU court ruling “will clarify that, even in the age of the internet, the scope of court orders from one country must be limited to its borders.“ Facebook said it removes content that breaks the law and that its priority “is always to keep people on Facebook safe.“

The same advocate general at the EU’s top court in January sided with Google in its fight against having to apply a so-called right to be forgotten globally, in a case that seeks to draw the line between privacy and freedom of speech. The EU court follows the advice of its advocates general in a majority of cases.