Facebook Takes an Insubstantial Step on Hate Speech
Users will become more accountable for what they post, with the prospect of legal ramifications becoming a lot more real.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- France is making a big song and dance about Facebook Inc. agreeing to hand over information that identifies users who post hate speech.
On one level, it’s significant. It represents a symbolic step in the regulation of online content. In practice, though, it seems utterly insubstantial.
French Minister for Digital Affairs Cedric O told Reuters on Tuesday that Facebook would give “the IP addresses and other identification data” of users posting hate speech to judges who formally demand it. He heralded it as “huge news” and unique to France.
It is a welcome move, for sure. Users will become more accountable for what they post, with the prospect of legal ramifications becoming a lot more real. And it gives a government some genuine authority (albeit indirectly) over online content.
But it ultimately changes very little for the social media giant. It doesn’t affect how Facebook regulates its platforms: it won’t be forced to police content any more stringently. Nor will it unilaterally pass information about suspected hate speech to law enforcement. To get any data, French authorities will have to make a request, based on what O told Reuters.
That gets to the heart of a problem that France’s digital ministry itself identified in its May report on the responsibilities of social media: the asymmetry between public authorities and social networks when it comes to understanding the platforms’ scope and impact.
Much like individuals, authorities can observe only an infinitesimally small proportion of a social network’s available content. The company alone has the ability to evaluate its effect on a national or global scale.
I’m not for a moment advocating direct government oversight of all Facebook content. That would have severe consequences for free speech. But it’s essential that steps such as the French one don’t kill conversations about the need for further regulation: that a greater onus be placed on social networks not only to halt the spread of illegal content, but also to ensure that there are legal consequences. My Bloomberg Opinion colleague Shira Ovide wrote compellingly this week on the limits to how Facebook oversees content.
The French measures will inevitably spur concerns about copycat efforts from authoritarian regimes. It’s therefore instructive that Facebook isn’t adopting a one-size-fits-all approach. This is only in France, and different solutions should apply in different regions. Facebook didn’t respond to my request for more detail about the policy.
Crucially, there need to be multilateral agreements at a supranational level to govern these processes. After all, Facebook has decided to hand this data to authorities voluntarily – it hasn’t been forced to do so. It’s important that the concession doesn’t take the wind out of more widesweeping regulation.
This is a step in the right direction, but there’s a long way to go.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jennifer Ryan at jryan13@bloomberg.net
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Alex Webb is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Europe's technology, media and communications industries. He previously covered Apple and other technology companies for Bloomberg News in San Francisco.
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