Platform regulation of hate speech – a transatlantic speech compromise?
Platform regulation of hate speech – a transatlantic speech compromise?
This paper argues that the binary opposition in the treatment of hate speech in the US and Europe hides non-binary preoccupations that reflect different primary fears which do not fall along the same ‘scale’. European liberal democracies fear the consequences of hate speech being left uncensored in the public domain (a WHAT concern) whilst America fears the consequences of content interventions by government (a WHO concern). The paper then proposes that the German Network Enforcement Law of 2017 builds a bridge between American and European speech traditions. NetzDG requires major platforms to moderate content in response to user takedown notices based on legally imposed speech standards. The mechanism of public standards being enforced through private processes is arguably uniquely adept at simultaneously assuaging the primary European fear about the absence of effective speech controls in the public domain and the primary American fear about the presence of governmental censorship.
Digital Services Act, First Amendment, NetzDG, Platform liability, hate speech
25-49
Kohl, Uta
813ff335-441f-4027-801b-4e6fc48409c3
2 June 2022
Kohl, Uta
813ff335-441f-4027-801b-4e6fc48409c3
Abstract
This paper argues that the binary opposition in the treatment of hate speech in the US and Europe hides non-binary preoccupations that reflect different primary fears which do not fall along the same ‘scale’. European liberal democracies fear the consequences of hate speech being left uncensored in the public domain (a WHAT concern) whilst America fears the consequences of content interventions by government (a WHO concern). The paper then proposes that the German Network Enforcement Law of 2017 builds a bridge between American and European speech traditions. NetzDG requires major platforms to moderate content in response to user takedown notices based on legally imposed speech standards. The mechanism of public standards being enforced through private processes is arguably uniquely adept at simultaneously assuaging the primary European fear about the absence of effective speech controls in the public domain and the primary American fear about the presence of governmental censorship.
Text
Uta Kohl on Hate Speech
- Accepted Manuscript
Text
Platform regulation of hate speech a transatlantic speech compromise
- Version of Record
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Accepted/In Press date: 13 February 2022
Published date: 2 June 2022
Additional Information:
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Keywords:
Digital Services Act, First Amendment, NetzDG, Platform liability, hate speech
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 454726
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/454726
ISSN: 1757-7632
PURE UUID: cd0c4161-0713-4f8e-923a-ec7e0cdcaccc
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Date deposited: 22 Feb 2022 17:32
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 07:08
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