Announced this week, UK PM Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron are set to unveil proposals that would fine big companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google for failing to remove extremist content form their sites.
This comes following a series of attacks on both France, the UK and other European nations.
According to May, these large firms have a “social responsibility,” to remove the “poisonous propaganda that is warping young minds.”
The government leaders are sick of the firms’ so called ‘foot dragging’ and want to hold them liable for the failure of preventing the spreading of such extremist propaganda material. The liability would result in large fines that would eventually put pressure on the issues at hand.
The actual figures of the fines are not yet known, but according to the Daily Mail, Germany is already issuing fines of around £45 million, after failure to take action against extremist material within just 24 hours.
“The UK and France will work together to encourage corporations to do more and abide by their social responsibility to step up their efforts to remove harmful content from their networks, including exploring the possibility of creating a new legal liability for tech companies if they fail to remove unacceptable content.
“We are united in our total condemnation of terrorism and our commitment to stamp out this evil,” said May. Further talks on the proposals will be held this week by Home Secretary Amber Rudd and French interior minister Gerard Collomb.
