{"id":2281,"date":"2021-02-15T11:56:10","date_gmt":"2021-02-15T11:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sectorplandls.nl\/wordpress\/?page_id=2281"},"modified":"2021-02-15T14:23:00","modified_gmt":"2021-02-15T14:23:00","slug":"deplatforming-politicians-and-the-implications-for-europe","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.sectorplandls.nl\/wordpress\/blog\/deplatforming-politicians-and-the-implications-for-europe\/","title":{"rendered":"Deplatforming Politicians and the Implications for Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFebruary 2021\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

Deplatforming Politicians and the Implications for Europe<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
In this blog post, Digital Legal Lab researcher Ronan Fahy and his University of Amsterdam colleagues Judith M\u00f6ller and Rocco Bellanova explore what Twitter and Facebook's decision to deplatform Donald Trump after the storming of Capitol means for online freedom of expression in Europe.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRonan Fahy<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDigital Legal Lab & University of Amsterdam<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJudith M\u00f6ller<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tUniversity of Amsterdam<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRocco Bellanova<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tUniversity of Amsterdam<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

This post was written by Ronan Fahy, Judith M\u00f6ller and Rocco Bellanova as part of the GDC-funded project<\/span>\u00a0Digital Platforms and the Digitisation of Expression and Surveillance<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Global digital platforms deplatforming prominent politicians has brought widespread public attention to the \u201cunchecked power<\/a><\/strong>\u201d these platforms have over online freedom of expression. Some companies, in an instant, can foreclose people\u2019s ability to use platforms that have become \u201cindispensable<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0for the speech of billions.\u201d These decisions have serious implications for freedom of expression in Europe. In this post, we tease out some of these issues, and briefly discuss how upcoming regulatory reform in Europe may reign-in this platform power over online expression. We advance these reflections in the first steps of our new project on\u00a0Digital Platforms and the Digitisation of Expression and Surveillance<\/a><\/strong>, which was recently awarded funding by the University of Amsterdam\u2019s Research Priority Area\u00a0Global Digital Cultures<\/a><\/strong>. The project will examine how platform practices shape information dissemination, and how governments can leverage the power of platforms to impose new forms of restrictions on free expression, and engage in surveillance of individuals and activism.<\/p>

Following the storming of the United States (U.S.) Capitol on 6 January 2021, Twitter\u00a0permanently suspended<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0Donald J. Trump\u2019s account, while Facebook\u00a0indefinitely suspended<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0Trump\u2019s Facebook and Instagram accounts. Both companies justified their decisions to deplatform Trump, back then still U.S. President, pursuant to their community guidelines. Twitter argued Trump\u2019s posts violated its \u201cglorification of violence\u201d policy. And Facebook said Trump was using its platforms to \u201cincite violent insurrection,\u201d and the \u201crisks\u201d of allowing Trump to continue using his accounts were \u201csimply too great.\u201d<\/p>

Twitter and Facebook\u2019s decisions have triggered worried reactions not only in the U.S., but also across the European Union (EU). For instance, Germany\u2019s chancellor, Angela Merkel, commented that Trump\u2019s suspensions were \u201cproblematic<\/a><\/strong>,\u201d as freedom of expression can only be interfered with \u201caccording to the law and within the framework defined by legislators,\u201d and not \u201caccording to a decision by the management of social media platforms.\u201d Which is one of the reasons why Facebook referred the decision to its\u00a0independent oversight board<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(which has recently published its very\u00a0first decisions<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0on other cases of content moderation).<\/p>

While Twitter and Facebook\u2019s decisions have a global scale, they must be situated in the different regulatory regimes across the world. For instance, U.S. scholars have pointed out that Facebook and Twitter\u2019s actions are\u00a0completely legal<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>under the First Amendment, as it only applies to government restrictions on speech. Their deplatforming decisions also do not violate any existing U.S. legislation, as \u201cno law limits online services\u2019 power<\/a><\/strong>\u201d to restrict expression on their platforms.<\/p>

In Europe, the legal position can be\u00a0quite different<\/a><\/strong>. For example, a Dutch court recently\u00a0allowed<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>a citizen-journalism initiative to sue YouTube for removing some of its videos which had been taken down for violating YouTube\u2019s rules on Covid-19 disinformation. While the Court did not order the reinstatement of the videos, it did find that aspects of YouTube\u2019s disinformation policy went too far, and were \u201cnot permitted\u201d under the right to freedom of expression. Importantly, the Dutch Court recognised that YouTube had a \u201cgreat responsibility\u201d because it is one of the largest online platforms with a worldwide reach and plays a \u201cdominant role\u201d in public debate online.<\/p>

The European approach to regulating platform power over expression will become even more pronounced quite soon. In December 2020, the European Commission proposed new landmark legislation known as the\u00a0Digital Services Act<\/a><\/strong>. This regulation will actually affect the ability of platforms to remove accounts based on supposed violations of their own terms of service. For example, when platforms disable an account based on a violation of their rules, platforms will be required to provide a \u201cclear and specific statement of reasons\u201d for the decision, including the \u201cfacts and circumstances relied on in taking the decision,\u201d and \u201cexplanations as to why the information is considered to be incompatible\u201d with their policy. Most notably, platforms will be required to have \u201cdue regard\u201d to the \u201cfundamental rights\u201d of users under the\u00a0EU Charter of Fundamental Rights<\/a><\/strong>, which guarantees freedom of expression.<\/p>

Indeed, platforms will be required to set up an internal complaint-handling mechanism, giving users the ability to appeal \u2013 free of charge \u2013 decisions taken by a platform. Crucially, users will have the right to refer disputes over a decision to an independent out-of-court dispute settlement body, and platforms will be bound by the decision. So, while Trump has no legal remedy available over his account suspensions, in Europe, the planned Digital Services Act may provide legal remedies to political figures subjected to similar suspensions (such as Dutch politician\u00a0Geert Wilders<\/a><\/strong>).<\/p>

And while we all are so focused on who is and who is not allowed to post on social media platforms, we often overlook that content moderation has many shades of grey in between those two choices. Platforms can also allow users to speak \u2013 without being heard. For example, Facebook has\u00a0changed its algorithm in 2019<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to de-prioritize content from users associated with misinformation. Users whose content is de-ranked are not informed about the measure and have therefore also no possibility to take legal steps. It remains to be seen whether the Digital Services Act will adequately protect users from such measures affecting their ability to speak.<\/p>

Ronan Fahy<\/em><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is a Senior Researcher at the Institute for Information Law, Faculty of Law, University of Amsterdam;\u00a0<\/em>Judith M\u00f6ller<\/em><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>(<\/em>@judith_moeller<\/em><\/a><\/strong>) is a tenured Assistant Professor for Political Communication at the Department of Communication Science at the University of Amsterdam; and\u00a0<\/em>Rocco Bellanova<\/em><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(<\/em>@ikkibop<\/em><\/a><\/strong>) is a Post-Doctoral Researcher and Visiting Professor at the Universit\u00e9 Saint-Louis-Bruxelles and a Research Associate at Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

This blog post was originally published by Global Digital Cultures (University of Amsterdam). View the original publication here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

February 2021 Deplatforming Politicians and the Implications for Europe In this blog post, Digital Legal Lab researcher Ronan Fahy and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":836,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"page-builder","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2281","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sectorplandls.nl\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sectorplandls.nl\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sectorplandls.nl\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sectorplandls.nl\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sectorplandls.nl\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2281"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.sectorplandls.nl\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2297,"href":"https:\/\/www.sectorplandls.nl\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2281\/revisions\/2297"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sectorplandls.nl\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sectorplandls.nl\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}