Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-000384/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Kim Van Sparrentak (Verts/ALE), Lena Schilling (Verts/ALE), Rosa Estaràs Ferragut (PPE), Mario Furore (The Left), Sigrid Friis (Renew), Sebastian Everding (The Left), Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus (S&D), Hannah Neumann (Verts/ALE), Saskia Bricmont (Verts/ALE), Maria Walsh (PPE), Per Clausen (The Left), Kira Marie Peter-Hansen (Verts/ALE), Raquel García Hermida-Van Der Walle (Renew), Rasmus Nordqvist (Verts/ALE), Mélissa Camara (Verts/ALE), Hilde Vautmans (Renew), Alexandra Geese (Verts/ALE), Merja Kyllönen (The Left), Aurore Lalucq (S&D), Sara Matthieu (Verts/ALE), Matjaž Nemec (S&D), Erik Marquardt (Verts/ALE), Rasmus Andresen (Verts/ALE), Dainius Žalimas (Renew), Vicent Marzà Ibáñez (Verts/ALE), Birgit Sippel (S&D), Lucia Yar (Renew), Hanna Gedin (The Left), Vivien Costanzo (S&D), Gordan Bosanac (Verts/ALE), Brando Benifei (S&D), Krzysztof Śmiszek (S&D), Olivier Chastel (Renew), Alessandro Zan (S&D), Marc Angel (S&D)
Meta recently announced changes to Facebook and Instagram’s content moderation policy. These changes in the terms and conditions include: ‘we do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality and common non-serious usage of words, such as “weird”’. Many Member States have national rules against illegal hate speech and incitement of hatred based on sexual orientation or gender.
- 1.Do these changes pose a systemic risk under Article 34 of the Digital Services Act (DSA), and, if so, do they pose a systemic risk based on the dissemination of illegal content through these services, notably illegal hate speech against the LGBTQIA+ community and gender-based violence, and/or based on the foreseeable negative effects on the exercise of fundamental rights, including the right to human dignity and non-discrimination, and/or based on the negative effects on civic discourse and/or negative effects in relation to gender-based violence? Please specify the arguments in favour of or against the applicability of each systemic risk.
- 2.Is the introduction of these changes in content moderation policy a violation of the obligation to mitigate these systemic risks under Article 35 of the DSA?
- 3.Are these changes in the terms and conditions a violation of Article 14(4) of the DSA to ‘act in a diligent, objective and proportionate manner’ in applying terms and conditions, with due regard to ‘fundamental rights and freedoms as enshrined in the Charter’, specifically the right to non-discrimination?
Submitted: 28.1.2025