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Google wants a pan-European approach
© APA (AFP)
In response to the package of laws against internet hate unveiled Thursday by the turquoise green coalition, online giants Google and Facebook have called for European solutions rather than national approaches. A spokesperson for Google Austria also announced that the group sees it as its obligation to “ban hate speech on our platforms.”
“In recent years we have worked closely with various authorities to make changes that protect our users online,” Google Austria said, expressing doubts about the new government draft. “We are not sure how this new law will affect fundamental rights such as freedom of expression and access to information,” were the concerns.
The speaker also expressed concern that “different national approaches could lead to a fragmentation of the European Digital Single Market”. “We therefore advocate for EU countries to work towards a common European approach,” Google Austria said.
In its reaction, Facebook referred to a statement from the Austrian Internet Service Providers (ISPA). It describes individual national efforts as obstacles for the EU in fighting online hate. As part of this partnership, Facebook also wants a European solution.
ISPA supports the Federal Government’s request “that all persons may use the advantages of the Internet without fear of unlawful hostility,” as it writes in its statement. “The Austrian Internet Industry Association welcomes measures that support those affected by hateful posts and create legal certainty for providers.” However, one should not fail to evaluate the planned measures in a pan-European context, warned ISPA Secretary General Maximilian Schubert, for whom the “fragmentation managed at the national level” testifies to a “shocking lack of confidence in the work of the institutions. of the EU “.
ISPA considers the planned national individual effort counterproductive. Currently, it is “being discussed intensively and with great caution at the European level in the context of negotiations on the Digital Services Act” how online platforms should deal with illegal content, the statement said. ISPA fears that the Austrian advance could become sand in the cogs of this process.
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