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The law was passed in the French National Assembly.
Social media and other websites will have just one hour to remove offensive content under a new law passed by the French Parliament.
The one-hour deadline applies to content that the French authorities consider to be related to terrorism or child sexual abuse.
Failure to act could lead to fines of up to 4% of global revenue, billions of euros for the largest online companies.
But critics say the new law could restrict freedom of expression.
The new rules apply to all websites, whether large or small. But there is concern that only internet giants like Facebook and Google really have the resources to remove content as quickly as necessary.
Digital rights group La Quadrature du Net said the requirement to remove content that the police considered “terrorism” in just one hour was impractical.
“Except for the big companies, no one can afford to have 24/7 surveillance to remove content on demand,” said a group spokesperson. “Therefore they will have to rely on censorship before receiving a request from the police.”
That could be in the form of using an automatic system provided by the largest companies, giving them “more power over what may or may not exist on the web.”
But there is also a fear that such technology could be used against groups like protesters.
“Since 2015, we already had a law that allowed the police to request the removal of certain content if they considered it to be a terrorist … this has been used multiple times in France to censor political content,” the spokesperson said.
“Giving the police such power, without any control … is obviously a violation of freedom of expression for us.”
Incitement to hatred
France’s new law reflects a proposal at the European Union level, where lawmakers last year suggested a one-hour deadline for content removal.
But that proposal was controversial and is currently in limbo.
France pushed ahead with its own version of the law despite concerns in Europe.
Under the new French law, content deemed illegal, but not related to terrorism or child sexual abuse, must be removed within 24 hours of notification.
That includes posts that incite hatred, violence, racism, and sexual harassment.
If the content is not removed, you could be fined up to € 1.25 million (£ 1.1 million).
France’s regulator, the Superior Audiovisual Council (CSA), will have the power to impose heavier fines of up to 4% of global turnover for continuous and repeated violations.
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Laetitia Avia, a deputy from President Macron’s LREM party who proposed the bill, said the law would protect victims, while reaffirming the country’s commitment to freedom of expression.
However, France’s Republican Party voted against the measure.
Member Constance Le Grip told the National Assembly that fighting hate online cannot be done at the expense of freedom of expression.
His colleague in the Senate, Bruno Retailleau, tweeted that the new law was “incompatible with respect for public liberties.”
Facebook said it was working closely with French regulator CSA and others “on the implementation of this law.”
YouTube said it has already addressed illegal content and welcomed any new partnerships with governments.
France’s chief public affairs officer for Twitter, Audrey Herblin-Stoop, told Reuters that the company would continue to work with the government to combat illegal content and hate speech.
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