[Air-L] Online Seminar "The proposed EU Digital Services Act and extreme speech: What should be the role of online platforms?"

[Eskens, S.J.]

The Meijers Committee is organizing an online seminar: "The proposed EU Digital Services Act and extreme speech: What should be the role of online platforms?"

Online platforms, such as social media companies, enable more speech, but people also use platforms for extreme speech. Extreme speech covers hate speech but also expressions such as incitement/glorification of terrorism, blasphemy, and denial/minimisation of gross human rights violations. While there is a relatively wide consensus on the prohibition of some forms of extreme speech, the exact boundaries between unlawful speech and speech falling within the right to freedom of expression is a matter of continuous discussion (e.g. with regard to blasphemy/defamation of religions). There is thus not a simple binary between lawful and unlawful speech.

Under the current EU e-Commerce Directive, online platforms are not liable for extreme speech on their platforms unless they have knowledge of the information and do not expeditiously remove it. However, European policymakers are moving towards creating more responsibilities for online platforms to combat extreme speech. For example, the Digital Services Act as proposed by the European Commission introduces new rules for online platforms regarding online content moderation, such as rules regarding voluntary own-initiative investigations by online platforms, due diligence obligations, and legal conditions for notice and action mechanisms.

This move to further regulate the role of online platforms in combating extreme speech raises critical questions. For instance, when are online platforms doing enough against extreme speech? And, are these companies in the right position to engage in the delicate balancing act between different rights and interests and between legal and illegal speech, which is normally the realm of courts? How much freedom should online platforms have in setting and enforcing their own rules on extreme speech? Should there be more legal regulation of the way their recommender systems act - which are often thought to promote extreme forms of speech? How should online platforms deal with content moderation in countries with less liberal or democratic governments (outside, but to a certain extent also inside, the EU)?

This seminar looks into the approach by the Digital Services Act towards such questions and evaluates the proposal in light of the fundamental right to freedom of expression.

You can register for free by sending a mail to w.hutten at commissie-meijers.nl<mailto:w.hutten at commissie-meijers.nl>. We will send you a link for the seminar in the week of the event.

Speakers:

·       Gabrielle Guillemin, Senior Legal Officer at ARTICLE 19.

·       Aleksandra Kuczerawy, postdoctoral researcher at the KU LEUVEN.

·       René van Eijk, Senior Policy Advisor Digital Economy at the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy.

Details:

·       4 June 2021

·       12:30 - 14:00 CET

·       Online

Program:

·       12:30 - 12:40 Opening remarks by Frederik Zuiderveen Borgesius (moderator).

·       12:40 - 13:10 Opening remarks by speakers.

·       13:00 - 13:20 Questions from moderator.

·       13:30 - 13:50 Questions from audience.

·       13:50 - 14:00 Closing remarks

More information can be found on the website<https://www.commissie-meijers.nl/en/seminar-eu-digital-services-act-extreme-speech>.

Sarah Eskens
Assistant Professor in Law and Technology
Coordinator International Technology Law program

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Transnational Legal Studies, Faculty of Law

s.j.eskens at vu.nl<mailto:s.j.eskens at vu.nl> | www.saraheskens.eu<http://www.saraheskens.eu/> | @SarahEskens<https://twitter.com/SarahEskens>