Ref. Ares(2019)3109073 - 10/05/2019
CAB GABRIEL/232 High Level Meeting with Online Platforms CEOs on Illegal Content
Berlaymont (Robert Schuman), 9/1/2018
Speaking points
Courte introduction suivant VP AA, qui donnera les lignes politiques générales
pour l'approche européenne
Je tiens également à vous remercier pour votre
participation aujourd'hui, ainsi qu'au Vice-Président
Ansip pour son introduction.
Il est certainement important de travailler ensemble et
c'est justement pour renforcer cette coopération que
nous avons lancé cette invitation aujourd'hui.
Nous souhaitons discuter avec vous les principes et les
mesures que nous avons proposés dans la
Communications publiée par la Commission en
septembre l'année dernière. Nous y avons identifié une
série de bonnes pratiques autant pour un dépistage et
une suppression efficace des contenus illicites en ligne,
que pour la protection des droits des citoyens et une
gouvernance transparente des contenus en ligne.
Nous
souhaitons entendre aujourd'hui vos réactions, ainsi
que votre engagement envers cet agenda et envers
d'autres mesures que vos organisations sont en
train d'entreprendre.
La Commission s'est engagée à évaluer le progrès et à
faire un bilan sur le besoin d'intervention publique plus
pointue d'ici Avril 2018. Bien que nous ayons lancé nos
chantiers de travail pour cette évaluation, nous
comptons en grande mesure sur la transparence et la
collaboration de vos organisations. Pour comprendre
l'efficacité globale des efforts mis en place, nous avons
tous besoin d'un système de mesure comparable et
d'indicateurs communs.
Nous comptons sur vous
pour convenir sur des indicateurs communs, ainsi
que sur vos efforts concertés et vos engagements
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CAB GABRIEL/232 High Level Meeting with Online Platforms CEOs on Illegal Content
Berlaymont (Robert Schuman), 9/1/2018
de partager en toute transparence et avec régularité
l'évolution des indicateurs.
Nous sommes face à une urgence de l'intervention de la
part de tous les acteurs responsables. Certainement, sur
des sujets comme le combat du terrorisme, l'action
accélérée est d'une importance majeure et nous nous
concentrons avec priorité là-dessous.
Certains d'entre vous êtes déjà impliqués dans les
dialogues ciblés sur le combat du terrorisme, ou bien de
l'abus des mineurs ou des discours haineux. Nous
apprécions vos engagements et
souhaitons élargir
cette coopération durable, également pour soutenir
un front commun qui n'ignore pas les défis auxquels
les petites entreprises sont confrontées, comme souligné
par M. le Vice-Président. Les efforts collectifs seraient
certainement plus efficaces que la somme des parties.
Nous sommes prêts à nous servir de tous les
instruments politiques à notre disposition. Ceci ne veut
pas dire uniquement de règlements, mais aussi des
mesures de soutien et une intensification des dialogues
concertés avec l'industrie, les autorités publiques et la
société civile. Nous voulons débattre avec vous là-
dessus et cerner les leviers dont nous pouvons nous
servir ensemble.
Conclusions de la séance
[ce texte préliminaire devra être adapté dès qu'on a plus d'information sur les
plateformes représentées et les messages qu'elle souhaitent ramener, au moins
concernant les créneaux figés dans l'agenda]
En guise de conclusion, je tiens à vous remercier pour le
débat riche d'aujourd'hui. Ce n'est que le début d'un
engagement durable et nous comptons sur votre
responsabilité assumée.
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Le combat des contenus illicites est un engagement
envers la société et c'est une responsabilité partagée.
C'est aussi, nous le reconnaissons bien, un défi auquel
vous êtes confrontés aussi afin de préserver la
réputation de vos plateformes.
Nous comptons également sur vos engagements d'agir
avec détermination et de coopération entre les
plateformes ainsi qu'avec les acteurs publics et la
société civile.
[Nous sommes tous face à un défi sans précédent, et
nous apprécions les démarches entreprises par vous
afin de pousser la compréhension globale des
comportements en ligne qui mènent à la propagation des
contenus illicites. Le soutien de la recherche dans ce
domaine est extrêmement important et ce n'est que sur
base des données dont vous disposes que ceci peut
avancer.]
[J'entends aussi la difficulté de mettre en place un
processus unique pour tout type de contenus illicites et
le besoin d'intensifier les efforts communs dans le cadre
des dialogues spécifiques.]
[C'est également l'approche sectorielle que nous
prenons dans l'analyse de l'intervention publique et nous
n'excluons pas le besoin d'agir avec des actions ciblées
sur des questions urgentes comme la lutte contre le
terrorisme.]
[Nos services vont faire un bilan des dialogues en cours,
ainsi que des résultats globaux. Nous comptons sur
votre engagement envers la transparence et des
rapports réguliers sur des indicateurs communs. Une
discussion au niveau technique va suivre afin
d'opérationnaliser cet engagement.]
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CAB GABRIEL/232 High Level Meeting with Online Platforms CEOs on Illegal Content
Berlaymont (Robert Schuman), 9/1/2018
Line to take
The Commission published guidance on how to tackle illegal content online on 28
September 2017. The Commission follows an important objective: to establish the
main political orientations for content management in Europe, in contraposition to
the US "hands-off" approach and censorship-like systems in authoritarian countries.
This is part of the measures announced by President Juncker in his state of the
Union speech
to ensure the swift and proactive detection and removal of illegal
content inciting hatred, violence and terrorism
The EU should look for a third way which:
o ensures swift and effective removal, by outlining clear responsibilities by
online platforms
o and ensures sufficient legal safeguards and transparency to avoid that
legal content is taken down and to increase the accountability of all
actors involved.
The existing liability exemption remains a keystone to ensure freedom of expression
online and as such is maintained.
The Commission will announce in due time whether legislative action is needed in
the field. The Commission is concerned by the potential risk of legal fragmentation
produced by diverging national initiatives.
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CAB GABRIEL/232 High Level Meeting with Online Platforms CEOs on Illegal Content
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Background notes
Presentation of the Communication on tackling illegal content
The Communication outlines clear responsibilities by online platforms:
o establish an easily accessible and user-friendly notification mechanism
o cooperate with law enforcement and other competent authorities, including
by sharing evidence.
o allow trusted flaggers to have a privileged relationship, while ensuring
sufficient standards as regards training, quality assurance or safeguards.
o use voluntary, proactive measures to detect and identify illegal content and
step up cooperation and the use of automatic detection technologies.
o take measures against repeat infringers.
But the Communication also ensures that a high level of protection of fundamental
rights, such as freedom of expression, is ensured:
o Users need more transparency on the platforms' content policy and on the
outcome of the application of the notice-and-action mechanism.
o Counter-notices are necessary as important safeguards against excessive
or erroneous removal.
o This is even more important when legal content is taken down by the
platform unilaterally, or in the cases of false positives due to algorithmic
decisions.
o The existing liability exemption remains a keystone to ensure freedom of
expression online and as such is maintained.
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Sector dialogues with online platforms on countering specific
categories of illegal content online
The Commission has already initiated several dialogues with different online
platforms, which cooperate proactively in the common goal of countering illegal
content online. These efforts have already given encouraging results, but need
to continue.
EU Internet Forum: (DG JUST)
The EU Internet Forum was launched in December 2015 to reduce accessibility
to terrorist content online and to empower civil society partners to increase the
volume of effective alternative narratives online. On 6th December 2017
companies reported progress: the consortium of companies connected to the
Database of Hashes, announced one year ago, has tripled in size (from 4 to 12,
with other few in ongoing negotiations to join); the database contains over
40.000 hashes of known terrorist images and videos and companies have
committed to include a repository of Europol's 5000 videos. There is a clear
commitment from companies on automated detection of terrorist propaganda,
with increasing success rates in the identification of terrorist content. Some
have removed 99% of identified terrorist content by using their own tools. The
EU Internet Forum has furthermore reached out and engaged with over 20
companies.
The EU Internet Referral Unit at Europol continues to flag content. Over 40,000
decisions for referral across over 80 platforms in more than 10 languages have
been triggered. On average, the content flagged for referrals has been removed
in 86% of the cases.
Whilst these signs are indeed encouraging, there is still a need for more
detailed, transparent reporting. Europol and the Commission are putting in
place a detailed reporting mechanisms.
The EU Internet Forum checks the extent to which companies are deploying
automated detection; the number of referrals sent by Europol is not necessarily
and indicator of the cooperation from the companies but more on the level of
activity of various Europol Internet Referral Units.
The Internet Forum at Ministerial level met on 6th December 2017 providing an
update on progress under the EUIF Action Plan while also identifying areas for
further work. On the Database of Hashes, the Forum is likely to push for
increased reporting on the Database of Hashes, including its impact, and how
the companies will seek to maximise the tool in 2018. Greater clarity on
automated removals by the industry will also be sought. Feedback on referrals
by the EU IRU and Member States' own referral units will also be requested.
Memorandum of Understanding on Counterfeit products: (DG GROW?)
The Commission facilitates stakeholder dialogues that promote collaborative
approaches and voluntary, practical solutions to better enforce intellectual
property rights in an evolving technological and commercial environment. In this
context, the Commission facilitated the conclusion of a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) on the online sale of counterfeit goods which brought
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together internet platforms, brand owners and trade associations. In November
2017, the Commission published an overview of the functioning of the MoU.
The results are based on data obtained in relation to the key performance
indicators set out in the MoU and feedback gathered from the MoU signatories.
The results of the work under the MoU are positive. They show that the MoU
has effectively contributed to removing counterfeit products from online
marketplaces and that it is a useful forum which allows trust and cooperation
between parties to be strengthened.
INHOPE Network
In 2016, the INHOPE network received more than 9.3 million reports of which
over 200,000 contained child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The trends
observed in the 2016 statistics confirm trends from previous years with pre-
pubescent children and girls being the most vulnerable groups identified in
these images. The main hosting country is the US, followed by the Netherlands,
Canada, France, Russia and Germany. Of the 38,767 total reports confirmed as
CSAM and inserted into the ICCAM system*, 74% were removed within 3
working days.
Code of conduct on Illegal hate speech
In May 2016 the European Commission together with Facebook, Microsoft,
Twitter and YouTube announced a Code of Conduct on countering illegal online
hate speech. It includes a series of voluntary commitments to combat the
spread of such content in Europe. Results of the evaluation of the Code of
Conduct are encouraging in terms of the response to notifications on hate
speech online deemed illegal under EU law. It has also allowed developing
partnership between these companies, national authorities and civil society
organisations (including broadening the "trusted flagger" system).
The next important step is to promote the uptake of the commitments in the
Code of Conduct by a wider group of IT platforms in the shared endeavour to
share a collective responsibility and pride in promoting and facilitating freedom
of expression throughout the online world. This action is complementary to the
core objective of ensuring that authors of illegal hate speech offences - whether
online or offline - are effectively prosecuted. The Commission works closely
with Member State authorities and civil society on assessing practical obstacles
to law enforcements' access to information held by IT Intermediaries needed to
investigate offences committed online.
The Code of Conduct is basing its work in a series of qualitative and
quantitative indicators:
o Time of assessment of notifications from reception by platform (-24h/-
48h/-1w/+1w/no assessment)
o Removal rate (how many notices lead to removal)
o Coherence of treatment of notifications irrespective of the reporting
channels: percentage of notices removed by the platform/time of
assessment, broken down by the origin of the notice (trusted flaggers or
normal user)
o Grounds of hatred of the notified content
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o Number of national contact points for law enforcement and other
competent authorities
o Number of national contact points by IT Platform to cooperate with
national authorities
o Number (and increase over time) of trusted flagger partners by IT
Company
o Performance of automatic detection system (e.g. Average n. of analysed
cases deriving from automatic detection compared to n. of cases
resulting from notices)
o Qualitative analysis of the quality of feedback (reference to terms of
services / law)
o Percentage of notices fol owed-up with feedback to users (broken down
by feedback to all users or feedback to trusted flagger)
o Qualitative analysis of the quality of feedback (reference to terms of
services / law)
o Regular qualitative analysis of transparency reports and progress by IT
Companies in particular re. publication of data on 1) number of notices
received per source (law enforcement/trusted flaggers/normal users); 2)
break down of notices per type of illegal content and including hate
speech; 3) information on outcomes of notices and counter notices.
The evaluation on the Code of conduct is a continuous process and most
indicators are monitored on a regular basis (until now every six months). The
results of a first evaluation were published in December 2016, the second in
June 2017. The third monitoring exercise is taking place now and preliminary
results are expected mid-January 2018.
EU Wildlife trade enforcement group (DG ENV)
It aims at:
Awareness of online platforms on wildlife trafficking
Transparency on their current practices (for ex. number of adds removed from
the websites),
Adoption of voluntary measures (for instance, e-Bay has decided to stop selling
ivory on its platforms)
Exchange information with enforcement agencies
Application of the trusted flaggers policy in the wildlife trade area (for example
through the recognition of some specialised NGOs as trusted flaggers in this
field).
Dialogue on illegal products (products which endanger the health of consumers
or fraudulent products which mislead consumers) with eBay, Amazon, Alibaba
and Facebook (DG SANTE)
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CAB GABRIEL/232 High Level Meeting with Online Platforms CEOs on Illegal Content
Berlaymont (Robert Schuman), 9/1/2018
Annexes:
- Annex I: List and description of invited online platforms
- Annex II: Background document sent to invited online platforms
- Annex III: detailed agenda sent to invited online platforms
- Annex IV: CVs of participants representing online platforms (to be prepared once we
have the list of final confirmed participants)
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