The recent move of four Internet giants to curb "hate speech'' including "homophobia'' on social media, through an agreement with the European Union, has raised concerns on free speech among social conservatives.
Google, Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft have agreed to police their pages of offensive comments and remove hate speech within 24 hours after they are posted online. They also agreed to promote counter-narratives against hate speech on their sites under the new accord agreed recently with the European Union.
But many were quick to oppose the platforms in their agreement, contending that the "pact is not based on law and could be used to suppressed politically incorrect views about Muslim immigration, abortion and the LGBTQ agenda.''
"What is sure is that most of all perversions and corruptions of customs in Europe come from the E.U.: This seems to be the very specific aim of this institution,'' Virginia Coda Nunziante, president of the Association for the Defence of the Family told LifeSiteNews.
In its website, Christian conservative news and comment website Agenda Europe said: "In their worldview, recalling that abortion means to kill a human being, or that marriage is between two persons of different sex, may be 'insultory' to baby-killers and sodomites, who must be shielded from such simple but disagreeable truths."
The group added that the real goal appears to create a "pseudo-legislative" excuse for tech companies to censor content. This approach gives them the ability to say 'we're just following the E.U. code of conduct for hate speech,'' the Christian conservative news source said.
Janice Atkinson, a British Member of the European Parliament, told Breitbart London that the move is predictable as seen on Facebook where the company has been "policing" so-called right wing postings.
"It's Orwellian ... It's a frightening path to totalitarianism,'' she said, reports LifeSiteNews.
She warned that Eastern European conservatives could face censorship from social media should they continue to think that there are too many migrants from Muslim countries allowed in their countries.
Diane James, United Kingdom Independence Party's spokeswoman, also told Breitbart that the legislation is "vague."
"European Union has gone far beyond its original purpose as a Common Market. It now wishes to decide and compromise our civil liberties as a people. This is unacceptable to a free people."
According to reports, the move of the four social media companies to combine and collectively produce a "code of conduct'' was meant to help E.U. in the regulation of hate speech which has often resulted in conflict among social media users. This was also justified by recent terror attacks in the country and elsewhere in the world.
"Terrorist attacks have reminded us of the urgent need to address illegal online hate speech. Social media is unfortunately one of the tools that terrorist groups use to radicalise young people and racists use to spread violence and hatred,'' according to Vĕra Jourová, E.U. Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality.
But Jourová noted that the pact is a step forward to ensure that the Internet remains a place of free and democratic expression, where European values and laws are respected.
Karen White, Twitter's head of public policy for Europe assured of the company's commitment "to letting the tweets flow" but stressed "there is a clear distinction between freedom of expression and conduct that incites violence and hate."
The code includes a series of commitments to combat the spread of illegal hate speech online. It also stipulates that special interest groups must assume the role of "trusted reporters," and staff must be trained to promote provocatively narratives," says LifeSiteNews
