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Liability of online hosting platforms: should exceptionalism end?

  • 13 September 2018
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The CERRE Tech, Media, Telecom report “Liability of online hosting platforms: should exceptionalism end?” explores whether online platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or YouTube, benefit from a liability free pass. Should their liability increase with their growing economic and societal importance? This report provides recommendations for EU rules leading to a safer internet.

With the e-commerce Directive, and other pieces of legislation, the EU has set an elaborate system of rules regarding the responsibility of online platforms. Since 2000, these have gained increasing economic and societal importance. The report  considers if and how this growing importance ought to affect their liability exemption when hosting illegal material (e.g. terrorism content, child pornography, racism, xenophobia, diffusion of copyrighted material without licence or sale of counterfeit goods).

“Many actors participate to the diffusion of illegal material online. The responsibility of a safe Internet should be shared among all these actors. To do so, the law should encourage all parties, including online platforms, to contribute to tackling illegal material”, says Alexandre de Streel, CERRE Joint Academic Director, and Professor at the University of Namur.

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

Shared responsability

All actors, including the platforms, should share the responsibility of the detection and the removal of illegal content.

Infrastructure for detection

Online platforms should be required to provide the right infrastructure ensuring the effective and proactive detection of illegal content by using, for example, efficient monitoring systems based on automated detection technology.

Rapid removal

Online platforms should provide their users with easy notification systems for effective and rapid removal of illegal material online.

Co-regulation

For illegal material that justifies a more extensive duty of care, such as terrorism content or child pornography, the rules of the e-commerce Directive should be accompanied by strict effective co-regulation or self-regulation.

“Online platforms provide tremendous opportunities for the Digital Single Market and play a critical role in our society. But they are not just a tool for sharing content; they are and should be considered a driving force in guaranteeing a safe internet for all. It is essential that they provide the right tools to detect and remove illegal content”, concludes the project research team.

Watch them talk about the report here.

Document(s)
REPORT | Liability of online hosting platforms: should exceptionalism end?
Author(s)
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Alexandre De Streel
Alexandre de Streel
CERRE Academic Co-Director
Professor of EU Law, University of Namur

Alexandre de Streel is Academic Co-Director at CERRE and a professor of European law at the University of Namur and the Research Centre for Information, Law and Society (CRIDS/NADI). He is a Hauser Global Fellow at New York University (NYU) Law School and visiting professor at the European University Institute, SciencesPo Paris and Barcelona Graduate School of Economics, and also assessor at the Belgian Competition Authority.

His main areas of research are regulation and competition policy in the digital economy as well as the legal issues raised by the developments of artificial intelligence. Recently, he advised the European Commission and the European Parliament on the regulation of online platforms.

Previously, Alexandre worked for the Belgian Deputy Prime Minister, the Belgian Permanent Representation to the European Union and the European Commission (DG CONNECT). He holds a Ph.D. in Law from the European University Institute and a Master’s Degree in Economics from the University of Louvain.

Miriam Buiten
Miriam Buiten
CERRE Research Fellow
University of St.Gallen

Miriam Buiten is Assistant Professor of Law and Economics at the University of St.Gallen, Switzerland. She was previously a Junior Professor of Law and Economics at the University of Mannheim. Her research focuses on the legal issues surrounding new technologies and artificial intelligence and the role of consumer policy and competition law in regulating the digital economy.

Miriam has been involved in several policy studies for the European Commission and the Dutch government on topics such as the role of online intermediaries in the ecommerce sector and mechanisms to reduce regulatory burdens.

Martin Peitz
Martin Peitz
CERRE Research Fellow
University of Mannheim

Professor Martin Peitz is a CERRE Research Fellow and Professor of Economics at the University of Mannheim. He is also a Director of the Mannheim Centre for Competition and Innovation.

His policy research focuses on digital markets, regulation, and competition economics.

Martin holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Bonn.

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