European Court of Justice backs global takedown of Facebook content

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that European Union courts can demand Facebook actively monitor and delete illegal material such as hate speech. The court said there is nothing in EU current law stopping Facebook from searching and deleting duplicate posts of content that has been declared illegal. The court said the searches and deletion can be done in the EU but also worldwide should national courts demand it. The judgment upholds a non-binding opinion from an ECJ adviser in June, which Facebook said “undermines the longstanding principle that one country should not have the right to limit free expression in other countries”. In its ruling, the ECJ said there is nothing stopping Facebook “from being ordered to remove identical and, in certain circumstances, equivalent comments previously declared to be illegal.”