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11.12.2020

Fight against terrorism on the internet: Political agreement reached on EU Regulation

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The German Presidency of the Council of the European Union has successfully concluded the negotiations between the Presidency, the European Parliament and the European Commission on the EU Regulation on preventing the dissemination of terrorist content online (TCO).

The regulation enables authorities to order service providers to remove terrorist content from the internet within an hour. Service providers can also be required to take measures to prevent the spread of terrorist content online. The companies themselves will decide on the specific measures taken. The regulation empowers national authorities to order that terrorist content be removed, regardless of whether a given company has its headquarters within the EU. The authorities of the country in which the company has its headquarters will also be consulted in this process.

Horst Seehofer, Federal Minister of the Interior, said:

Europe stands united in the fight against terrorism. The spread of terror is not protected by the freedom of expression and the internet is not a lawless zone. Asserting these principles is not the sole responsibility of government. We are making sure that internet companies also cannot shirk their responsibilities.

On this topic

Videoconference of EU Home Affairs Ministers: Fight against terrorism and migration policy was on the agendaInternal link

On 13 November 2020, EU interior ministers met virtually to discuss the fight against terrorism in light of the most recent attacks in Europe. They also continued their exchange on the new pact on migration recently proposed by the European Commission.