PARIS: According to a court verdict obtained by Reuters, a French court has ordered Twitter to provide detailed data on what company is doing to combat hate speech, after multiple French lobby organizations asked Twitter to crack down harder on hate speech. The court verdict, which was presided over by magistrate Fabrice Vert, stated that Twitter must demonstrate efforts it is taking to combat hate speech over the next two months.
When contacted about the decision, a Twitter representative in France declined to react immediately, citing pressure from lobby groups such as the UEJF French Jewish Students Association, SOS Racisme, and SOS Homophobie.
Tech companies have been accused of not doing more to combat online abuse.
In May, the United Kingdom said that a proposed new law would see social media corporations fined up to 10% of their annual revenue or £18 million (US$25 million) if they failed to combat online abuses such as racial hate crimes, with senior executives facing criminal charges./n
