A recent ruling by the European Union's Court of Justice has raised concerns that online platforms will be driven towards increasing censorship.
For many years, EU law has protected websites, social media platforms and online services from being held legally responsible for everything their users post. Instead, responsibility generally lies with the person who created the content.
These protections were designed to encourage free expression and prevent platforms from feeling pressured to monitor or remove large amounts of lawful material simply to avoid legal trouble.
However, a new judgment by the Court of Justice in the Coyote System case may narrow those protections. The court suggested that online services could lose their legal immunity if they play a more active role in presenting or promoting user-generated content, rather than simply hosting it.
The ruling centred on an app that allows drivers to share information such as speed camera locations. While the decision applies directly to that case, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) argues that its reasoning could have much wider consequences for social media platforms, search engines and other online services.
The EFF warned that if platforms believe they are at greater risk of being sued because of how they organise or recommend user content, they may respond by removing more posts than necessary.
This could include legal speech that is controversial or unpopular but should remain protected. Smaller platforms, with fewer resources to fight legal challenges, could be especially affected.
The organisation also argues that the ruling creates uncertainty about what counts as an "active role". Many modern online services rely on algorithms to sort, recommend and display content. If these everyday features are seen as giving platforms greater responsibility for user posts, companies may choose to err on the side of caution and take down more content.
Only time will tell if the Coyote ruling has indeed set a dangerous legal precedent.
