European Commission: Technology Companies Agree To Review And Limit Hate Speech

Henna Vikkunen, EU Technology Commissioner (photo: x @HennaVirkkunen)

JAKARTA The European Commission announced that a number of technology companies agreed to do more in overcoming hate speech on its platform. This statement was made on January 20.

Hate speech restrictions are the latest code of ethics to be integrated into the Digital Service Act (DSA) in the European Union. Some companies that agree in this rule are Meta, platform X, Google, and many more.

Meanwhile, tech companies that signed a voluntary code set out in 2016, citing a Reuters report, are Dailymotion, Instagram from Meta, Jeuxvideo, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Snapchat, Rakuten Viber, TikTok, and Twitch.

"In Europe there is no place for illegal, either directly or online hatred," said EU Technology Commissioner Henna Vikkunen, in a statement. "I welcome the commitment of stakeholders to the strengthened Code of Ethics."

Once this latest code of ethics is revised, all technology companies will allow non-profit and public entities to review hate speech posts or comments. After that, they will assess two-thirds of the overall notification they received for 24 hours.

In addition, companies like Meta and X will also take further action by utilizing automatic detection tools. This tool will search for hate speech on their platform and reduce the post or comment.

This tool will present state-level data classified based on hate speech involving race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, and sexual orientation. Once analyzed, each company will remove hate speech periodically.