The European Union is currently in talks with 19 players in the digital world who are expected to adhere to these standards, including facebook and twitter

The European Union (EU) stated that it will impose fines on social networks and websites that fail to remove anti-Semitic and defamatory content from their platforms, according to a new European law on digital services that comes into force on August 25.

The text stipulated greater transparency from companies operating in the EU and obliged them to submit a detailed report on how they are working to neutralize this type of content. The Europeans started discussions with 19 players from the digital world who are expected to adhere to these standards, including facebook and twitter.

As such, it set out that platforms that fail to meet these standards will face fines and legal action. All EU member states must appoint digital coordinators by February 2024 to ensure that companies comply with the established principles.

Plans will have to be presented for combating anti-Semitism and hate speech by the beginning of September this year. The bill also obliged countries to train law enforcement agencies to understand what constitutes a hate crime, how to investigate such offenses and how to support victims.

The EU law is significantly more advanced than in the USA where there is no legislation against defamation and anti-Semitic hatred on social networks.

The new regulations represented a significant step forward in the fight against anti-Semitism, and was discussed at length during talks between Israel and the EU on combating racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism held recently at Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem.

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