Brussels, Feb. 6 (LaPresse) – “This is exactly why we have regulations in place. So racism, hate speech, illegal content have no place online, not because the Commission says so, but because they are illegal in real life. We have a general principle, at least in Europe, that what is illegal offline in real life should also be illegal online.” This was stated by spokesperson Thomas Regnier, responding to a question about a video posted on US President Donald Trump’s Truth Social account in which former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle are depicted as monkeys.
“If you have terrorist content on a poster and run around in the street, or incitement to hatred or racism, you will probably be arrested after the first or second corner. The same principle must apply online. When it comes to individual users, criminal investigations may be possible. However, when a platform amplifies this type of content, then, of course, in Europe there are sanctions on this,” he explained.
“The Commission does not examine individual content from the perspective of the Digital Services Act. This can be done through criminal investigations, which are not within our remit. We do not analyze a single social media post on a platform. We analyze the systems that these platforms put in place in Europe to prevent this type of content from being amplified and gaining visibility, because this can be extremely harmful,” the spokesperson added.