CODE OF CONDUCT ON COUNTERING ILLEGAL HATE SPEECH ONLINE
Facebook, Microsoft*, Twitter and YouTube (hereinafter "the IT Companies") – also involved
in the EU Internet Forum – share, together with other platforms and social media companies,
a collective responsibility and pride in promoting and facilitating freedom of expression
throughout the online world;
The IT Companies also share the European Commission's and EU Member States'
commitment to tackle illegal hate speech online. Illegal hate speech, as defined by the
Framework Decision 2008/913/JHA of 28 November 2008 on combating certain forms and
expressions of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law and national laws
transposing it, means all conduct publicly inciting to violence or hatred directed against a
group of persons or a member of such a group defined by reference to race, colour, religion,
descent or national or ethnic origin. The IT Companies and the European Commission also
stress the need to defend the right to freedom of expression, which, as the European Court of
Human Rights has stated, “is applicable not only to "information" or "ideas" that are
favourably received or regarded as inoffensive or as a matter of indifference, but also to those
that offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population”.1
Broader society and in particular civil society organisations (CSOs) also have a crucial role to
play in the field of preventing the rise of hatred online, by developing counter-narratives
promoting non-discrimination, tolerance and respect, including through awareness-raising
activities.
The IT Companies support the European Commission and EU Member States in the effort to
respond to the challenge of ensuring that online platforms do not offer opportunities for illegal
online hate speech to spread virally. The spread of illegal hate speech online not only
negatively affects the groups or individuals that it targets, it also negatively impacts those
who speak out for freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination in our open societies and has a
chilling effect on the democratic discourse on online platforms.
The Joint Statement issued by the extraordinary Justice and Home Affairs Council of 24
March 2016 on the terrorist attacks in Brussels underlines that "the Commission will intensify
work with IT companies, notably in the EU Internet Forum, to counter terrorist propaganda
and to develop by June 2016 a code of conduct against hate speech online".2
In order to prevent the spread of illegal hate speech, it is essential to ensure that relevant
national laws transposing the Council Framework Decision 2008/913/JHA are fully enforced
by Member States in the online as well as the in the offline environment. While the effective
application of provisions criminalising hate speech is dependent on a robust system of
enforcement of criminal law sanctions against the individual perpetrators of hate speech, this
work must be complemented with actions geared at ensuring that illegal hate speech online is
expeditiously acted upon by online intermediaries and social media platforms, upon receipt of

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2

Microsoft-hosted consumer services, as relevant
Handyside v. the United Kingdom judgment of 7 December 1976, § 49
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2016/03/24-statement-on-terrorist-attacks-inbrussels-on-22-march/

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 a valid notification, in an appropriate time-frame. To be considered valid in this respect, a
notification should not be insufficiently precise or inadequately substantiated.
The IT Companies underline that the present code of conduct3 is aimed at guiding their own
activities as well as sharing best practices with other internet companies, platforms and social
media operators.
The IT Companies, taking the lead on countering the spread of illegal hate speech online,
have agreed with the European Commission on a code of conduct setting the following public
commitments:


The IT Companies to have in place clear and effective processes to review notifications
regarding illegal hate speech on their services so they can remove or disable access to
such content. The IT companies to have in place Rules or Community Guidelines
clarifying that they prohibit the promotion of incitement to violence and hateful conduct.



Upon receipt of a valid removal notification, the IT Companies to review such requests
against their rules and community guidelines and where necessary national laws
transposing the Framework Decision 2008/913/JHA, with dedicated teams reviewing
requests.



The IT Companies to review the majority of valid notifications for removal of illegal hate
speech in less than 24 hours and remove or disable access to such content, if necessary.



In addition to the above, the IT Companies to educate and raise awareness with their users
about the types of content not permitted under their rules and community guidelines. The
notification system could be used as a tool to do this.



The IT companies to provide information on the procedures for submitting notices, with a
view to improving the speed and effectiveness of communication between the Member
State authorities and the IT Companies, in particular on notifications and on disabling
access to or removal of illegal hate speech online. The information is to be channelled
through the national contact points designated by the IT companies and the Member
States respectively. This would also enable Member States, and in particular their law
enforcement agencies, to further familiarise themselves with the methods to recognise and
notify the companies of illegal hate speech online.



The IT Companies to encourage the provision of notices and flagging of content that
promotes incitement to violence and hateful conduct at scale by experts, particularly via
partnerships with CSOs, by providing clear information on individual company Rules and
Community Guidelines and rules on the reporting and notification processes. The IT
Companies to endeavour to strengthen partnerships with CSOs by widening the
geographical spread of such partnerships and, where appropriate, to provide support and

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Article 16 of Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain
legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market
('Directive on electronic commerce', OJ L 178, 17.7.2000), indicates that Member States and the Commission
shall encourage the drawing up of codes of conduct at Union level, by trade, professional and consumer
associations or organisations designed to contribute to the implementation of its Articles 5 to 15.

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 training to enable CSO partners to fulfil the role of a "trusted reporter" or equivalent, with
due respect to the need of maintaining their independence and credibility.


The IT Companies rely on support from Member States and the European Commission to
ensure access to a representative network of CSO partners and "trusted reporters" in all
Member States to help provide high quality notices. IT Companies to make information
about "trusted reporters" available on their websites.



The IT Companies to provide regular training to their staff on current societal
developments and to exchange views on the potential for further improvement.



The IT Companies to intensify cooperation between themselves and other platforms and
social media companies to enhance best practice sharing.



The IT Companies and the European Commission, recognising the value of independent
counter speech against hateful rhetoric and prejudice, aim to continue their work in
identifying and promoting independent counter-narratives, new ideas and initiatives and
supporting educational programs that encourage critical thinking.



The IT Companies to intensify their work with CSOs to deliver best practice training on
countering hateful rhetoric and prejudice and increase the scale of their proactive outreach
to CSOs to help them deliver effective counter speech campaigns. The European
Commission, in cooperation with Member States, to contribute to this endeavour by
taking steps to map CSOs' specific needs and demands in this respect.



The European Commission in coordination with Member States to promote the adherence
to the commitments set out in this code of conduct also to other relevant platforms and
social media companies.

The IT Companies and the European Commission agree to assess the public commitments in
this code of conduct on a regular basis, including their impact. They also agree to further
discuss how to promote transparency and encourage counter and alternative narratives. To
this end, regular meetings will take place and a preliminary assessment will be reported to the
High Level Group on Combating Racism, Xenophobia and all forms of intolerance by the end
of 2016.

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