Social media speed up fight against online hate speech

Social media companies have stepped up efforts against online hate speech, removing over two-thirds of notified contents within 24 hours, the European Union's figures revealed.

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Microsoft lead the war.

Vera Jourova, EU commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, Friday announced the evaluation report of the Code of Conduct on countering illegal online hate speech carried out by non-governmental organizations and public bodies.

Speaking during a news conference, Jourova said the Internet must be a safe place, free from illegal hate speech, free from xenophobic and racist content.

According to Jourova, the Code of Conduct has made steady progress in the removal of notified complaints since its adoption in May 2016.

"This shows that where there is a strong collaboration between technology companies, civil society and policy makers we can get results, and at the same time, preserve freedom of speech," she said.

Overall the figures suggested that social media companies removed on average 70 percent of all the illegal hate speech notified to them.

"This rate has steadily increased from 28 percent in the first monitoring round in 2016 and 59 percent in the second monitoring exercise in May 2017," Jourova added.