European Commission Demands Internet Firms Do More on Terror
- Recommends more automatic tools to detect, block illegal posts
- Asks for better coordination with government and one another
Web servers stand inside the Facebook Inc. Prineville Data Center in Prineville, Oregon.
Photographer: Meg Roussos/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The European Commission is calling upon social media companies including Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc. to develop a common set of tools to detect, block and remove terrorist propaganda and hate speech.
In guidelines issued Thursday, the commission asked the online platforms to appoint contact persons that would allow them to be reached quickly with requests to remove illegal content. It asked them to lean more heavily on networks of "trusted flaggers" -- experts in what constitutes illegal content -- as well as making it easier for average users to flag and report possible extremist content.