The European Parliament has adopted a new Regulation requiring online platforms to remove or disable access to flagged terrorist content in all Member States within one hour. The Regulation will come into force 20 days after publication in the Official Journal, and will apply 12 months after its entry into force.
Terrorist content must be removed within one hour
The Regulation requires online platforms to remove terrorist content within one hour of receipt of a removal order from the competent national authority. Member states will adopt rules on penalties, which will take into account the nature of the breach and the size of company responsible.
Content uploaded for educational, research, artistic and journalistic purposes will not be considered to be terrorist content under the Regulation.
No general obligation to monitor or filter content
The Regulations does not impose any general obligation on online platforms to monitor or filter content. However, when the competent national authority has established that an online platform is exposed to terrorist content, the company will have to take specific measures to prevent its propagation. The service provider will have discretion to decide what specific measures to take to prevent this from happening, and there will be no obligation to use automated tools.