Transposing into French law a European regulation, a text of LREM law relating to the withdrawal within one hour of terrorist content has been validated by the Constitutional Council.
In accordance with European regulations, La République en Marche (LREM) has proposed a law incorporating one of the provisions of the Avia law which had been abandoned, concerning the withdrawal of terrorist content from Internet platforms. A text which requires these platforms to withdraw “within the hour” of any reported terrorist content. Seized by certain deputies of La France insoumise (LFI), the Constitutional Council validated, this Saturday, August 13, this bill. It is, as a reminder, this same Constitutional Council which had rejected most of the flagship measures of the Avia law.
In the future, Internet platforms will therefore only have 1 hour to apply requests for the removal of terrorist content. If they fail, they will be liable to one year’s imprisonment and a fine of up to 250,000 euros.
If the LFI deputies had seized the Constitutional Council, it is because they believe that the very short deadline imposed on the platforms will force them to automate the processing, which implies a certain error rate. Also, according to them, it is a “manifest attack on the freedom of expression and communication guaranteed by article 11 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen”. It is on this last point that the Constitutional Council ruled, considering that the text is in conformity with the Constitution and that the terrorist content undermines public order, the rights of third parties and the freedom of expression and Communication.
Possible remedies, as soon as possible
It should be noted that each request for withdrawal must, in order to be admissible under this law, be sufficiently reasoned. It is also a specialized cell of the judicial police, the OCLCTIC (Central Office for the Fight against Crime linked to Information and Communication Technologies), which will be responsible for officially issuing the injunctions. The Arcom (Audiovisual and digital communication regulatory authority) will be responsible for controlling the withdrawal injunctions formulated.
Finally, the platforms themselves will be able to challenge a withdrawal request made to them. In this case, it is the administrative justice which will be seized and will have to provide an answer within 72 hours. Appeals must be judged within a month.