EU response to free speech killings? More Internet censorship

The interior ministers of 12 European Union countries have called for a limited increase in Internet censorship.

The interior ministers of France, Germany, Latvia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the UK said that, while the Internet must remain “in scrupulous observance of fundamental freedoms, a forum for free expression, in full respect of the law,” ISPs need to help “create the conditions of a swift reporting of material that aims to incite hatred and terror and the condition of its removing, where appropriate/possible.” This sounds similar to recent agreements in the UK whereby ISPs use filters to stop citizens seeing “extremist” online content, though it’s hard to tell without more details. There seems to be no coordinated push for more Internet surveillance just yet, although there is a drive for better intelligence sharing between EU countries. It seems, to say the least, an awkward reaction to what was in part a free-speech-related attack -- the left-wing Charlie Hebdo has itself frequently been accused of hate speech for its portrayal of Muslims and others.