Big tech warns against tougher EU content rules

BRUSSELS: The European Union must hold back from making major platforms such as Facebook or Twitter liable for illegal content on their websites, the US big tech lobby urged Wednesday. The suggestion came as the European Commission, the EU´s vast regulatory arm, is busy drawing up a new set of laws to keep a tighter leash on Silicon Valley, especially when it comes to hate speech and disinformation.

The planned European Digital Services Act has triggered a lobbying frenzy in the EU´s de facto capital, with internet giants worried that Brussels will muzzle its wildly succesful and profitable social platforms. Lobbyists representing the likes of Google and Twitter warned in a letter to the commission, seen by AFP on Wednesday, that reversing limited liability would have the perverse effect of increasing hate speech online, with companies turning a blind eye to dangerous content when it occurred.

“The law should continue to assign primary liability to those users that act illegally or harm others and limit the liability of online service providers whose services are abused by others,” wrote Siada El Ramly, director-general of Edima.