Google, YouTube, Facebook Inc, Twitter Inc and other Internet companies must show the EU within three months that they are removing extremist content more rapidly or face legislation forcing them to do so.
Several governments have increased pressure on social media companies to do more to remove illegal content — from material related to groups such as Islamic State and incitement to commit atrocities — and the sector has increased efforts to demonstrate its progress.
However, in its strongest call yet to the technology sector, the European Commission on Thursday recommended measures that Internet platforms should take to stop the proliferation of extremist content, including the removal of such material within an hour of being notified of its existence.
European governments have said that extremist content on the Web has influenced lone-wolf attackers who have killed people in several European cities after being radicalized.
“While several platforms have been removing more illegal content than ever before ... we still need to react faster against terrorist propaganda and other illegal content which is a serious threat to our citizens’ security, safety and fundamental rights,” European Commissioner for Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip said in a statement.
European online trade association EDiMA, whose members include Google, Facebook and Twitter, said it was dismayed the commission had not first chosen to engage in dialogue.
A one-hour turnaround time might also not be workable, it said.
The recommendation, which is nonbinding, but could be taken into account by European courts, sets guidelines on how companies should remove illegal content generally — from copyright infringements to hate speech — and advises a quicker reaction to extremist material.
The commission said it would assess the need for legislation within three months for what it described as “terrorist content,” given the urgency of the issue.
For all other types of illegal content it will assess progress made within six months.
It also called on the technology sector, which is dominated by US companies, to adopt proactive measures, such as automated detection to rid their platforms of illegal content.
Campaign group the Counter Extremism Project said the commission’s proposal was welcome, but did not tackle two issues — how to make automated technology widely available and how to stop extremists uploading again content that had been removed.
Civil rights group European Digital Rights described the commission’s approach as putting Internet giants in charge of censoring Europe.
Only legislation would ensure democratic scrutiny and judicial review, it said.
Luxury groups welcomed the commission’s move, saying action by online platforms is also necessary to fight the sale of counterfeit goods online.
“Proactive measures coupled with good consumer information is the only way to effectively deal with illegal content online,” LVMH group managing director Toni Belloni said.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
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