Social media platforms have become a place in which people vent their frustrations. Unfortunately, not all of them are upset by a late delivery, or a favorite team losing a match. Some users use social media outlets for racist propaganda or the promotions of terrorism. This is where the new hate speech regulations come in.

As of today, Goggle, Microsoft, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter have agreed to the new European Union hate speech regulations. According to them, every time the platforms receive a notification regarding hateful content they must check it in a maximum of 24 hours.

These new regulations are meant to minimize the impact of racist, homophobic, and terrorist propaganda that has been spreading on on-line social outlets.

Furthermore, the new guidelines are promoting the use of “independent counter-narratives” as a means of fighting on-line hate speech.

The European Union has become increasingly concerned with hate speech after the recent Paris and Brussels terrorist attacks. Also, Europe is currently undergoing an unprecedented refugee crisis that sparked the racial tensions in many of its countries.

Facebook has been collaborating with German official government representatives in an attempt to combat in a proactive manner any xenophobic or on-line racist behavior. Google and Twitter have joined the effort and are now respecting the new European Union hate speech regulations when managing the German platforms.

“The recent terror attacks have reminded us of the urgent need to address illegal online hate speech. Social media is, unfortunately, one of the tools that terrorist groups use to radicalize young people and spread violence and hatred,” the European Union commissioner for justice, Vĕra Jourová, declared.

The new hate speech regulations are putting the social media giants on the spot. By promising to abide by the new regulations, they are also promising to limit the free speech of some people. While it is okay to speak your mind, these tensions will create a new paranoid wave of population that will report any statement that they don’t agree with, leading to a new set of problems.

On the other hand, seeing as the political stability in the EU is rather fragile after all of the terrorist attempts and the refugee crisis, the support of the social media platforms is a welcomed aid in the fight against hate and the violence it generates.

Image source: Wikipedia