Facebook CEO Zuckerberg Says EU Court Ruling On Content Removal Across The Globe Sets A Very Troubling Precedent
[ By Bobby Anthony ]Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that the recent European Court of Justice ruling that the social network may be ordered to remove defamatory content globally has “set a very troubling precedent”.He indicated that his company as well as other similar social media companies would indulge in litigation in order to get clarity about what the EU ruling means over a...
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that the recent European Court of Justice ruling that the social network may be ordered to remove defamatory content globally has “set a very troubling precedent”.
He indicated that his company as well as other similar social media companies would indulge in litigation in order to get clarity about what the EU ruling means over a long period of time, during an internal question and answer session with his employees.
Incidentally, the EU top court judgment, which cannot be appealed, will now be used as a reference all across Europe.
The recent ruling of the European Court of Justice may have significant implications in expanding content takedowns from social media platforms.
The ruling came after a former Austrian politician sought an order to make Facebook remove a comment published by a user on that social network harmful to her reputation.
Mme Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek, who was a leader of Austria's Greens Party, wanted Facebook to block access to the content globally.
The ruling said that EU law does not preclude a host provider such as Facebook from being ordered to remove identical and, in certain circumstances, equivalent comments previously declared to be illegal.
After this decision, Facebook and similar platforms are likely to face a greater obligation to monitor their content and take down content found to be offensive or hateful all across the globe.