Document 28
From:
(GROW)
Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2017 1:10 PM
To:
(GROW) <
@ec.europa.eu>
Cc: GROW E3 <xxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx>;
(GROW)
@ec.europa.eu>;
(GROW) <
@ec.europa.eu>
Subject: RE: 🔔 Early Warning - Single Market Transparency Directive 🔔 Notification 2017/127/D law
enforcement on social networks
,
No comments from E3 to this.
Regards
_____________________________________________
From:
(GROW)
Sent: Monday, April 03, 2017 12:43 PM
To: DRZEWOSKA Agnieszka (CAB-BIENKOWSKA); COMPTOUR Fabrice (CAB-BIENKOWSKA);
HEDBERG Kristian (CAB-BIENKOWSKA);
(COMM);
(COMM);
(GROW);
(CAB-BIENKOWSKA);
(GROW);
(SG);
(SG); SCHWIMANN Irmfried (GROW);
PELTOMAKI Antti Ilmari (GROW);
(SG);
(GROW);
(CAB-BIENKOWSKA); NUNES DE ALMEIDA Joaquim (GROW);
(SG);
(GROW);
(GROW); GROW
SERVICES NOTIFICATIONS;
(GROW);
(GROW)
Cc:
(GROW);
(GROW);
(GROW);
(EEAS-MINSK);
(GROW);
(GROW)
Subject: 🔔 Early Warning - Single Market Transparency Directive 🔔 Notification 2017/127/D
law enforcement on social networks
Importance: High
EARLY WARNING ON SENSITIVE NOTIFICATIONS
<< OLE Object: Picture (Device Independent Bitmap) >>
In a nutshell
Country:
Germany
Sector:
Digital social networks and
criminal offences
Deadline for EU reaction:
28 June 2017
Sensitive because:
Preliminary analysis:
Notified drafts are still under
assessment. CNECT might propose a reaction
Next steps:
EC services contributions are
expected by 28 April 2017
Background:
Within the framework of the notification procedure laid down by Directive (EU)
2015/1535, the German authorities notified to the Commission on 27 March
2016 a draft "
Act improving law enforcement on social networks".
The draft Law aims at ensuring that criminal content published on digital social
networks, such as hate speech, abuse, defamation or fake news, is promptly
removed by social network operators. According to the notification message,
the definition of its scope would ensure that the draft applies only to operators
of large influential digital social networks such as YouTube, Facebook or
Twitter. The German authorities explain that a voluntary agreement was
reached with these operators in 2015 but that the results were not sufficient
and required legal action (i.e. the proposed draft law).
The German intention to regulate the matter has been
recently discussed between CNECT's Cabinet and the German authorities.
During these discussions, CNECT informed the German authorities of
CNECT's intention to regulate the same matter with a different approach than
the one presented in the notified draft. It seems that DG CNECT and DG
JUST are in contact to discuss the notified draft and have contacts with the
German Ministry of Justice (which prepared the notified draft).
Main content:
The notified draft contains the following provisions:
- Standards for effective complaint management to ensure that social
networks delete blatantly criminal content 24 hours after receipt of a complaint
from a user. The draft makes it compulsory to have effective, transparent
methods for the prompt deletion of illegal content, including user-friendly
mechanisms for registering complaints.
- Social networks shall be legally bound to file quarterly reports on how they
dealt with complaints regarding potentially criminal content. The reports shall
contain statistics on the volume of complaints and information on the
networks' decision-making process. They shall also provide information on the
complaints team responsible for processing the complaints. The reports must
be readily retrievable on the social network's homepage.
- Social networks may be imposed a fine of up to EUR 5 million in the
following cases: deliberate or negligent non-compliance with the reporting
obligation, violation of the obligation to have effective complaint management,
violation of the obligation to appoint a person on German soil authorised to
accept service and an authorised recipient on German soil for requests for
information from law enforcement authorities.
The notification message and the draft text concerning this notification can be
found
on
http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-
databases/tris/en/search/?trisaction=search.detail&year=2017&num=127
Relation with past notifications:
The notification under subject come to develop further the obligations
regarding intermediaries' liability contained in Article 10 of the German
Telemedia Act (TMG). According to this Article, service providers are bound to
immediately remove illegal content they are storing for a user, or to block
access to said content, once they become aware of it. This provision was
commented by the Commission when it was amended and notified under
notification 2015/305/D, in relation with the liability exemption contained in
Article 14 of the E-commerce Directive.
Interim assessment:
The notified drafts are still under assessment by the following EC services
concerned: GROW E1 and E3, JUST and CNECT.
DG CNECT has flagged the sensitivity of the notified draft and informed that
they might propose a reaction.
Timeline:
EC services views are expected by 28 April 2017.
The legal deadline for the EC reaction is 28 June 2017.
European Commission
DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs
Unit B2 - Prevention of Technical Barriers
B-1049 Brussels/Belgium
+32-2-29-