Paris (AFP)
The Constitutional Council censored Thursday the heart of the law on the fight against hate online, judging that certain new obligations borne by operators of internet platforms were infringing on freedom of expression and communication.
The Council considered that certain provisions could "encourage the operators of online platform to withdraw the contents which are announced to them, whether or not they are manifestly illegal", and considered that the 24 hour period imposed on certain persons was "particularly short" operators, "under penalty of penal sanction", for "withdrawing or making inaccessible manifestly illegal content because of their hateful or sexual nature".
He therefore considered that "the legislator has infringed freedom of expression and communication which is not adapted, necessary and proportionate to the aim pursued".
The Constitutional Council also censored the provision providing for an hour's withdrawal for terrorist or child pornography content in the event of notification by the public authorities.
These two censures mechanically entail that of other articles of the text intended to accompany the implementation of these withdrawal obligations.
"The Avia law widely censored by the Constitutional Council following the referral of the LR group to the Senate. There is almost only the title which is constitutional ...", immediately reacted on Twitter the leader of the senators LR Bruno Retailleau. "The censorship will not be entrusted to the GAFAM. All those who are attached to freedom should rejoice," he added.
On two occasions, the Senate, dominated by the right-wing opposition, had opposed, in the name of freedom of expression, the flagship provisions of a text deemed "liberticide" by its detractors.
In addition to LR, the extreme left and extreme right had spoken out against this text in Parliament.
"Heavy defeat for Belloubet. The Avia law against online hatred is almost entirely censored by the Constitutional Council. The liberticidal will in check", tweeted the leader of the rebellious Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
The text had raised many reservations, including the National Digital Council, the National Consultative Commission for Human Rights, or the Quadrature du Net, which defends individual freedoms in the digital world.
© 2020 AFP