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Twitter Sued For $50M For Refusing To Identify Anti-Semitic Users

Posted by Soulskill on from the feeding-the-trolls dept.

redletterdave writes "After a French civil court ruled on Jan. 24 that Twitter must identify anyone who broke France's hate speech laws, Twitter has since refused to identify the users behind a handful of hateful and anti-Semitic messages, resulting in a $50 million lawsuit. Twitter argues it only needs to comply with U.S. laws and is thus protected by the full scope of the First Amendment and its free speech privileges, but France believes its Internet users should be subject to the country's tighter laws against racist and hateful forms of expression."

23 of 335 comments (clear)

  1. I've been waiting for this... by FrankSchwab · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Is an internet company responsible to the country that it operates from, or is it responsible to every country that they can be reached from?

    The second would be a remarkably scary result.

    --
    And the worms ate into his brain.
    1. Re:I've been waiting for this... by iamhassi · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Is an internet company responsible to the country that it operates from, or is it responsible to every country that they can be reached from?

      The second would be a remarkably scary result.

      This stuff has already gone to court. Google execs were charged with crimes in italy for YouTube videos showing bullying. Google ignored it and Italy couldn't do anything. If Internet was ruled by every law in every country then it wouldn't exist. Sorry France you lose.

      --
      my karma will be here long after I'm gone
    2. Re:I've been waiting for this... by gstoddart · · Score: 4, Informative

      Is an internet company responsible to the country that it operates from, or is it responsible to every country that they can be reached from?

      Likely, it will come down to if they have a regional variant of their service or local servers.

      If there's only a single twitter.com, and it lives in the US, and everybody hits then likely not.

      But if there is a twitter.fr, and they have a presence in France and promote their service there -- well, then you really are going to be compelled to adhere to local laws. You can't have it both ways. One would hope that reasonably, if I do something in the country I live in, and it's legal, no other country should have any jurisdiction. That way you don't get someone being sued in France for something which is legal where they live. Because half of the internet would be getting sued in countries where saying certain things is illegal, even if they've never been there.

      Twitter can't promote their products in other countries, install infrastructure there, regionalize their product, but claim everything else is covered under US laws.

      Of course, that's great in theory -- who knows what a court would decide in reality.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    3. Re:I've been waiting for this... by mdw2 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      In many places these draconian anti-speech laws are popular with the local people. This would not end the way you think it would.

      --
      This sig intentionally left blank.
    4. Re:I've been waiting for this... by qwe4rty · · Score: 5, Funny

      Or he is from Australia and a their upside is equivalent to a northern hemisphere downside.

    5. Re:I've been waiting for this... by BitterOak · · Score: 4, Insightful

      How long until posting anonymously on sites like Slashdot is forbidden? (I can see an upside to this)

      Some of the most insightful comments I've seen on Slashdot have been posted by Anonymous Cowards, and I've seen some absolute drivel posted by people with usernames, so what's your point?

      --
      If I can be modded down for being a troll, can I be modded up for being an orc, or a balrog?
    6. Re:I've been waiting for this... by tlhIngan · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Is an internet company responsible to the country that it operates from, or is it responsible to every country that they can be reached from?

      The second would be a remarkably scary result.

      This stuff has already gone to court. Google execs were charged with crimes in italy for YouTube videos showing bullying. Google ignored it and Italy couldn't do anything. If Internet was ruled by every law in every country then it wouldn't exist. Sorry France you lose.

      I think Italy arrested a few Google execs from Google Italy, which wouldn't be as scary - in which case as long as Twitter has no French connections (no servers, etc) then France can't do anything. If they do, France can go after the French company.

      (Which is basically OP's point 1 - since the company has operations in various countries, they have to comply with the law, but only in those countries).

      At the very worst, if a twitter exec was passing through France, they could potentially be arrested until the fine is paid for, I suppose.

      Since I don't think Twitter has any assets or anything in France, the French government can't do a thing unless they can convince the rest of the EU that it's worth pursuing through other EU assets. Maybe. They can also arrest any twitter exec passing through France, I suppose - the US does it.

      Of course, this would mean that while Twitter is protected by US laws, it's also subject to the whims of the US government, including those ones on copyright infringement and such.

    7. Re:I've been waiting for this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Sorry France you lose.

      No surprises there.

    8. Re:I've been waiting for this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The internet is "ruled" by whatever rules the host country allows (or is unable to fend off). In the case of Italy going after Google, the USA is the host country, and Google knows that it has nothing to fear because Italy doesn't have the ability to force the USA to hand anyone over for something that isn't a crime in the USA.

      But then on the flip side, you've got the USA going after people in the UK, New Zealand, etc, and succeeding despite the fact that no laws were broken in the host country because, this time around, the country doing the prosecuting does have the ability to force the host country to be its bitch.

    9. Re:I've been waiting for this... by Richard_at_work · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The moment an exec from Twitter steps within French jurisdiction (which extends a lot further than you think), arrests will be made for contempt of court - look at what happened to the British online gambling company execs arrested in the US for making gambling services available to US citizens, despite the entire infrastructure and company being based outside the US.

      Exactly the same situation as here.

    10. Re:I've been waiting for this... by DavidD_CA · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It amuses me to think that some low-level IT guy from Twitter might one day go to Paris for his honeymoon ... only to get arrested at the airport until a $50 M fine is paid.

      --
      -David
    11. Re:I've been waiting for this... by bsDaemon · · Score: 5, Insightful

      At that point, it almost sounds like kidnapping for ransom...

    12. Re:I've been waiting for this... by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 4, Funny

      Considering I'm equally anonymous on Slashdot whether I'm logged in or not

      That's what you think, Steve.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    13. Re:I've been waiting for this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Dear AC,

      You shall not talk about France that way. Identify yourself or deal with the full wrath and power of the French.

    14. Re:I've been waiting for this... by KZigurs · · Score: 5, Informative

      USA has been doing this for decades... Especially with online gaming companies that might not even serve US customers.

    15. Re:I've been waiting for this... by sveinungkv · · Score: 4, Insightful

      At that point, it almost sounds like kidnapping for ransom...

      Why almost?

      Indeed, that was an apt and true reply which was given to Alexander the Great by a pirate who had been seized. For when that king had asked the man what he meant by keeping hostile possession of the sea, he answered with bold pride, "What you mean by seizing the whole earth; but because I do it with a petty ship, I am called a robber, while you who does it with a great fleet are styled emperor."

      (Augustine of Hippo in "City of God" book IV Chapter 4)

      --
      Spelling/grammar nazis welcome (English is not my first language and I am trying to improve my spelling/grammar)
    16. Re:I've been waiting for this... by girlinatrainingbra · · Score: 5, Informative
      Hey, it's already happened here in the USA for Dmitry Sklyarov when he came to the USA to give a presentation. Look at the details at U.S. v. ElcomSoft and Skylarov The case raised some concerns particularly since it involved an individual being prosecuted for activities that were fully legal in the country where they occurred.

      So Twitteronians doing twiittery things that are all legal in teh USA could get stopped, frisked, arrested, and jailed for having done things that are deemed to be illegal elsewhere in this great wide world. :>(

  2. So France should fix it by HalAtWork · · Score: 4, Insightful

    France believes its Internet users should be subject to the country's tighter laws against racist and hateful forms of expression.

    Then France can filter their internet. Why does Twitter have to do anything? If France wants censorship, they should implement it.

    --
    Twinstiq, game news
  3. In other news... by srussia · · Score: 5, Funny

    France's nuclear power infrastructure can now be decommissioned, as they have coupled all the turbine generators to Voltaire's grave.

    --
    Set your phasers on "funky"!
    1. Re:In other news... by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 5, Funny

      Given that it's Voltaire we're talking about, perhaps it would have sufficed to just connect the electrodes...but I'll be candid with you, regarding your optimism, are you sure they'd also get the necessary amperage?

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
  4. Re:Begging the Question by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 4, Funny

    No, Twitter will show up halfway through the trial and the French will immediately surrender.

    --
    Support my political activism on Patreon.
  5. I'm not surprised that this didn't happen sooner.. by Mashiki · · Score: 5, Insightful

    After all most countries in the EU have similar law, Canada has similar laws(still) since the bill to strike down various parts of the hate speech laws are still stuck in the senate. The US is the odd ball out. Remember the next time someone starts screaming that hate speech laws are a good idea, they're not. This is spoken by someone who already lives under them. You have no "freedom of expression," you have limited expression as deemed by the government in a very and exceptionally narrowing scope as deemed by unelected bureaucrats in HRC's(human rights councils) who run tribunals outside the court system.

    --
    Om, nomnomnom...
  6. Re:Do TV Broadcasters Have to Put Up With This? by h4rr4r · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Anti-Israeli is not the same as anti-Semitic.

    Surely you can see the difference? Just like one might protest the actions of the US government while holding no ill will towards her people.