French court orders Twitter to provide details on what it is doing to tackle hate speech

PARIS (Reuters) – A French court has ordered Twitter to provide clear details on what it is doing to tackle hate speech, according to a court judgment obtained by Reuters, after several French lobby groups had asked Twitter to clamp down more on hateful content.

The court ruling, which was presided over by magistrate Fabrice Vert, said Twitter had to show within the next two months steps it was taking to tackle hate speech.

An official for Twitter in France declined any immediate comment on the matter, when asked about the verdict, which followed pressure from lobby groups including the UEJF French Jewish students association, SOS Racisme and SOS Homophobie.

Tech firms have been accused of doing far too little to address online abuse.

In May, Britain said a planned new law would see social media companies fined up to 10% of turnover or 18 million pounds ($25 million) if they failed to stamp out online abuses such as racist hate crimes, while senior managers could also face criminal action.

($1 = 0.7242 pounds)

(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain and Gwenaelle Barzic; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)