PACE’s Committee on Culture today called on Council of Europe member states to review their legislation to better safeguard the right to freedom of expression on social media. They should in particular, it said, “require that social media uphold users’ fundamental rights, including freedom of expression, in their content moderation policy and implementation practices”.

According to the committee, public regulation of content moderation should not have a “chilling effect on free speech” and should not impose the views of the political power in place or “censorship of opinions or ideas which may conflict with the ruling majority’s vested interests”. Moreover, national regulations should not place undue burdens on social media, which could result in an “overzealous approach to content removal”.

Adopting a draft resolution based on a report prepared by Valentina Grippo (Italy, ALDE), the committee said that “education systems must adapt to social changes and respond with new curricula and interactive methodologies to new demands”. They should also “contribute to countering the erosion of democratic values, particularly among young people in Europe”.

The adopted text calls for minimum standards of working conditions for human moderators, “including a requirement of adequate training to carry out their often-stressful tasks and of access to proper psychological support and mental health care when needed”.

AI-generated content, the text states, should be “disclosed as such by those initially posting it” while social media platforms should “implement technical solutions allowing for such content to be easily identified by users, and encourage collaboration between social media companies to ensure the interoperability of watermarking techniques for AI-generated content”.

Out-of-court dispute settlement bodies, when established, should be “independent and impartial, have the necessary expertise, be easily accessible, and operate according to clear and fair rules, with certification of these requirements by the competent national regulatory authority”.

04.12.2024

https://pace.coe.int/en/news/9705/reviewing-legislation-to-better-safeguard-the-right-to-freedom-of-expression-on-social-media