EU countries can order websites to take down illegal posts worldwide, following a landmark ruling.
Facebook and similar apps and websites can be ordered to take down illegal posts worldwide after a landmark ruling from the EU's highest court. Platforms may also have to seek out similar examples of the illegal content and remove them, instead of waiting for each to be reported.
Facebook said the judgement raised"critical questions around freedom of expression".The case stemmed from an insulting comment posted on Facebook about Austrian politician Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek, which the country's courts said damaged her reputation. Under EU law, Facebook and other platforms are not held responsible for illegal content posted by users, until they have been made aware of it - at which point, they must remove it quickly. But it was unclear whether an EU directive, saying platforms cannot be made to monitor all posts or actively seek out illegal activity, could be overridden by a court order.Thursday's ruling says three thingsIf an EU country finds a post illegal in its courts, it can order websites and apps to take down identical copies of the post Platforms can be ordered to take down"equivalent" versions of an illegal post, if the message conveyed is"essentially unchanged" Platforms can be ordered to take down illegal posts worldwide, if there is a relevant international law or treaty"If there's a court order to say that someone's been defamed, then Facebook has to also search for different variations of it," Prof Steve Peers, from the University of Essex, told BBC News. Facebook said countries would have to"set out very clear definitions on what 'identical' and 'equivalent' means in practice". It said the ruling"undermines the long-standing principle that one country does not have the right to impose its laws on speech on another country". However, platforms can be compelled to take down posts worldwide within the framework of relevant international laws only."Facebook might say we can't do this to the United States, because even though it infringes Austrian law, it doesn't infringe US law."
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