Tech Giants Leading The Fight Against Hate Speech

Tech giants, led by Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB), Twitter Inc (NYSE: TWTR), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) are leading the fight to not only combat online hate speech, but do so quickly and efficiently.

According to Bloomberg, a new "code of conduct" was jointly announced by major technology companies and the European Commission on Tuesday.

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A joint statement by the European Commission and major technology companies said there is a need to ensure hate speech is "expeditiously reviewed by online intermediaries and social media platforms, upon receipt of a valid notification, in an appropriate time-frame."

However, there is a fine-balance between what constitutes legitimate criticism of government policies and hate speech. As such, the companies acknowledged the "challenge" ahead to enforce new policies.

"With a global community of 1.6 billion people we work hard to balance giving people the power to express themselves whilst ensuring we provide a respectful environment," Bloomberg quoted Monika Bickert, head of global policy management at Facebook, as saying in a statement. "There's no place for hate speech on Facebook."