The continued presence of terrorist content on the web is a grave risk to citizens and to society at large. Terrorists misuse the internet to spread their messages to intimidate, radicalize, recruit, and facilitate carrying out terrorist attacks. To tackle this threat, the European Commission has put forward a series of voluntary and legislative measures and initiatives to help mitigate the terrorist threat.
Regulation to address the dissemination of terrorist content online
The Regulation to address the dissemination of terrorist content online applies as of 7 June 2022. Based on the Regulation, terrorist content must be taken down within one hour after it is identified online. This applies for online platforms offering services in the EU, to ensure the safety and security of citizens. At the same time, the Regulation puts in place strong safeguards to guarantee that freedom of expression and information are fully protected.
Removal order: Who can send it?
National competent authorities can send removal orders to hosting service providers to request the take down of terrorist content. Check the link below to see, which are these authorities in each EU country:
Learn more about the key elements of the regulation from the following factsheet:
The path towards the Regulation
The Regulation builds on the Commission Communication of September 2017 on tackling illegal content online and the Commission Recommendation on measures to effectively tackle illegal content online of March 2018.
EU Internet Forum
Since 2015, the EU Internet Forum brings together EU and EFTA Member States, online platforms, Europol, academia, relevant EU networks such as the Radicalisation Awareness Network as well as international partners, including the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism and Tech Against Terrorism.
The Forum provides a platform to exchange on the trends and evolution of terrorists’ use of the internet as well as to tackle child sexual abuse online:
- To reduce the availability of terrorist material online the following actions have been taken: the EU Internet Referral Unit in Europol refers terrorist content to over 300 platforms and engages with companies in an effort to increase resilience to terrorist propaganda.
- Following the Christchurch attack in March 2019, the EU Internet Forum endorsed the EU Crisis Protocol (EUCP) to ensure cooperation and exchange of information between law enforcement and industry in the aftermath of a crisis.
- With the purpose to empower the positive voices of civil society online, the Commission has set up the Civil Society Empowerment Programme (CSEP) and provided 10 million euros in funding through action grants. Supported by the Radicalisation Awareness Network and online platforms such as Facebook, Google and Twitter, the programme aims to ensure that the organisations have the skills and knowledge to deliver effective campaigns online that would reach vulnerable individuals and those at risk of radicalisation and recruitment by extremists.