Joan Barata on Terrorist Content Online and Threats to Freedom of Expression

A critical understanding of the current and limited tools to tackle the dissemination of terrorist content online will be key to properly define the measures to protect us against the dangers of terrorist activities, CMDS Fellow Joan Barata writes in a new piece for Verfassungsblog.

The article discusses terrorist content online and the threats to freedom of expression, looking at the major regulatory efforts in the field. It also looks at platforms formulating their own policies in the form of moderation rules, community standards or terms of service. In this area the author calls for transparency and accountability. He writes, “Big platforms already have a long record of mistaken or harmful moderation decisions in this area in different parts of the world.”

He also writes about the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) and discusses some freedom of expression concerns about the organization. Further, he looks at the 2021 EU legislation on addressing the dissemination of terrorist content online.

He concludes that the current tools must be evaluated critically to ensure that freedom of expression is preserved and that we are all protected “against the dangers of terrorist… activities.” 

Image: Mayer Tawfik / Unsplash