European Union countries can force Facebook to erase content worldwide, according to EU high court

In 2016, an Austrian politician sued Facebook Ireland, demanding it remove content she claimed was defamatory. After an Austrian court ruled in her favor, Facebook partially removed the material in question, but leaving it accessible outside of Austria. The politician subsequently sought its total removal from the platform, and her case was brought before the European Court of Justice (ECJ). On Oct. 3, 2019, the court ruled that European Union (EU) countries could force Facebook to remove content worldwide. Critics fear the ruling risks initiating a new era of internet censorship. 

Key Players

Established in 1952, before the EU existed, the European Court of Justice is now the EU’s highest judicial body. The court is responsible for interpreting EU law, monitoring EU organizations, and ensuring member compliance with EU treaties. 

Under the increased scrutiny of users and lawmakers, Facebook has de facto become a major international regulator of content and speech online. The multibillion-dollar platform has made efforts to curb harmful content while maintaining a degree of free and open exchange on its platform. But critics have slammed Facebook’s standards as ineffective. 

Austrian politician Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek, who is at the center of the case, sought to remove Facebook comments that labeled her a “lousy traitor” and a “corrupt oaf,” according to The New York Times.

Further Details

An Austrian court deemed the speech defamatory and ordered Facebook to remove it, a request from Glawischnig-Piesczek that the platform originally denied. After the comments were removed in Austria, Glawischnig-Piesczek demanded they and related material be expunged from Facebook servers globally, requesting an injunction from the ECJ in 2018. 

The October 2019 ECJ injunction ruled that governments of EU member states have the right to order Facebook to remove content worldwide if the states deem it unlawful. 

“EU law does not preclude a host provider such as Facebook from being ordered to remove identical and, in certain circumstances, equivalent comments previously declared to be illegal,” the injunction reads. 

The ruling follows years of proactive European regulation of the internet on the regional and national level, according to The Verge and The Times. 

Outcome

ECJ ruling fans fears of increased internet censorship

Some critics of the ruling fear it may result in the worldwide censorship of legitimate speech. 

“If platforms do exactly what the court suggests—take down any post with a combination of particular words of concern—it would almost certainly sweep in large quantities of totally harmless and legitimate speech,” U.S. lawyer Jennifer Daskal wrote in Slate. “We are talking about global censorship on a potentially broad scale, and a severe ossification of public debate and discourse as a result.”

The ruling comes on the heels of another controversial ECJ decision on Sept. 24, 2019, that prevented the enforcement of Europe’s “right to be forgotten” rule outside the EU. The law allows governments to force Google to remove online information deemed to be irrelevant or not in the public interest at private request.