Social media platforms in EU must remove terrorist content within 1 hour

Brussels (The Times Groupe)- The EU’s new legislation came into effect on Tuesday, requiring online platforms to remove terrorist content within an hour.

To ensure hosting service providers act promptly if terrorist content is published or disseminated on their sites, the European Union passed the Terrorist Content Online Regulation in 2021.

The law entered into force a year ago, giving online platforms 12 months to adapt to the changes.

Upon receipt of an order from Europol or an EU member state’s law enforcement authority, all online platforms, including Facebook, Google, and Twitter, must remove terrorist content within an hour.

As well as directly soliciting to commit or contribute to terrorist offenses, the legislation also considers inciting, advocating, and glorifying such acts as terrorist content.

If providers fail to comply with the one-hour removal order, they may be penalized up to 4% of the platform’s annual revenue.