EU Forces Web Hosts to Take Down Terror Content

Internet hosting providers will have just one hour to remove terrorist content after a government request under new European laws. It's raised fears some sites may get caught up potentially faulty content filters.

The law is a European Union regulation that will take effect in Spring 2022. It will automatically apply in all European Union countries and will be based on where a website is hosted rather than where its operators are based.

A press release announcing the regulation says it covers any content (both text and audio or video) that will "that incite, solicit or contribute to terrorist offences, provide instructions for such offences or solicit people to participate in a terrorist group." There's an exemption for some types of content including art and journalism. (Source: europa.eu)

Filters Could Be Faulty

Under the regulation, a national authority in a country can tell the provider hosting a site that it has such content. The provider will then have one hour to remove it or face a financial penalty. The penalties will be set by individual countries but will take into account the size of the provider and the nature of the breach.

The rules don't say providers must monitor or filter content when its posted. However, critics say some smaller hosting providers may find it too administratively costly to respond to every takedown request within an hour. In some cases terrorist groups intentionally use providers which don't have the resources to monitor or respond to problems quickly.

Governments Could Abuse Power

The concern is instead will rely on automated filters than block or remove terrorism-related content. The problem there is how reliable such filters are and how likely they are to block legitimate material by mistake.

The Verge website also notes that although the regulation's wording of what counts as terrorist material will be the same in every country, the interpretation may vary. That could mean authoritarian governments in some EU countries could misuse the powers as a way to enforce censorship of political opponents. (Source: theverge.com)

What's Your Opinion?

Is this a good idea in principle? Will it work in practice? Is one hour a fair deadline to remove material after a government order?