Facebook, X, TikTok

IT giants pledge a tougher fight against hate on the web

In the fight against hate speech on the internet, numerous online platforms have pledged to take tougher action against European authorities. IT companies such as Facebook, X, TikTok and YouTube have signed a corresponding commitment, the EU Commission announced.

This will become part of the European rules for the industry. "There is no place for hate in Europe, neither offline nor online," said EU Technology Commissioner Henna Virkkunen. "I welcome the commitment of stakeholders to a stricter code of conduct under the Digital Services Act (DSA)."

Strict rules against hate and hate speech
This law subjects internet companies to strict regulation and forces them, among other things, to take action against hate and hate speech. It also prohibits manipulative practices to persuade users to make purchases.

Violations of the DSA can result in penalties of up to six percent of annual global turnover. However, the EU is investigating some of the signatories of the latest declaration of commitment for possible disregard of the law: these include Facebook parent company Meta, billionaire Elon Musk's short messaging service X and Alphabet subsidiary Google, which owns the video platform YouTube.