Facebook has for the first time agreed to hand over the identities of users suspected of posting hate speech, following talks with French officials.
While the company has for a long time been willing to share IP addresses of suspected terrorists or other criminals with national law enforcement, this is the first time it's done so in the case of hate speech.
According to Reuters, it's been unwilling in the past because of concerns that countries without an independent judiciary could misuse such information.
Now, though, following a meeting betwewen Nick Clegg, Facebook’s head of global affairs, and France’s minister for digital affairs Cedric O, Facebook will share the data of those using hate speech with French judges on request.
"This is huge news, it means that the judicial process will be able to run normally," O told Reuters. "It’s really very important, they’re only doing it for France."
The move may be connected to a new law currently under discussion that would see tech companies fined up to four per cent of their global revenues if they fail to remove hate speech from their platforms. Germany already has a similar law, with fines of up to €50 million if fake news or hate speech isn't removed within 24 hours.
France's current hate speech laws cover ethnicity, nationality and race, along with religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability; it's illegal to incite discrimination against, hatred of, or harm to any of these groups.
"Racism, anti-Semitism, racial hatred and justification are not opinions. They are offences," official literature explains. "All speeches, cries or threats made publicly, that is to say by any public means of communication, are punishable. Including on the internet."
The new law, like Germany's, would give companies 24 hours to remove such material, while making it easier for users to report illicit content, through a single reporting button. However, Facebook has said it will continue to apply its guidelines and resist requests for information if they are 'overbroad, inconsistent with human rights or legally defective'.
