EU orders one-hour deletion of terrorist content

EU regulators are moving to require online platforms to delete terrorist content within one hour of an authority’s instruction. The measure, which previously centered on journalistic protections and general fast removal, now applies to all content types—images, texts, audio, video, and livestreams—and can be issued by any member-state authority without a court order. Platforms may be targeted even if they are headquartered outside the EU, including Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Twitter. The Innenausschuss of the European Parliament approved the draft, with 54 Members of Parliament voting in favor and 13 abstentions. The policy traces back to negotiations among Parliament, the Council, and the Commission in December 2020; the exact enforcement date remains unknown. There is no obligation to deploy automated upload filters, and critics warn about free-speech implications, while authorities seek to curb the spread of terrorist propaganda online.