Funding of digital content that incites hatred and discrimination
10.4.2017
Question for written answer E-002611-17
to the Commission
Rule 130
Ramón Luis Valcárcel Siso (PPE)
The digital revolution has not only changed the way we shop or connect with each other, but also how we make decisions related to democracy, political action or civic behaviour.
Google processes around 63 000 searches per second. Therefore, the results that it provides when citizens are seeking information are vital. Given the responsibility held by such platforms, they need to cooperate with public administrations to ensure that their services are not used to spread discriminatory messages or messages of hate. A key step to take in that regard is to cut the sources of funding that ease the way for the dissemination of such messages, with the main source being advertising.
Platforms such as Google or Facebook have already started to introduce policy changes to prevent their advertising networks from being used by advertisements containing harmful content.
Taking into account the willingness shown by technology companies to cut off the dissemination of discriminatory or hateful content:
- 1.Does the Commission intend to step up cooperation with technology companies in order to prevent such messages from spreading so easily?
- 2.Will the Commission take advantage of the proactivity of those companies and consider, for example, creating joint working groups to explore the possible actions to be taken and, on the basis of the results from the groups, make recommendations that could be incorporated into the regulatory framework?