Author:

Abstract

The European Commission issued a proposal for Regulation to prevent the dissemination of terrorist content online. This introduces far-going obligations for social media platforms to remove terrorist content what conflicts with the E-Commerce Directive and will have a considerable impact on freedom to conduct a business, freedom of expression, protection of personal data and the right to an effective remedy. While extremist and terrorist content on the internet may contribute to radicalisation of home-grown terrorists and lone actors, the (over)removal of terrorist content will hinder the possibility to provide effective counter narratives and will result in the relocation of terrorists and extremists to unmonitored digital environments.

Keywords: Terrorism, Terrorist content, Social media companies, E-commerce Directive, Algorithms, Freedom to conduct a business, Freedom of Expression, Data protection, Online Radicalisation, Counter-radicalisation