This month marks the 10th anniversary of the EU Code of Conduct on Countering Illegal Hate Speech Online.
In May 2016, the European Commission reached an agreement with major platforms like Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, and YouTube to establish this Code. From 2018 to 2022, significant platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Twitch joined the Code.
The execution of the Code was assessed through routine monitoring exercises established in partnership with INACH and other various organizations across different EU nations. These monitoring exercises measure how promptly platforms respond to reports of alleged illegal hate speech. In monitoring exercises, we use a standardized methodology to examine how social media platforms adhere to the commitments outlined in the Code.
On 20 January 2025, a revised version known as Code of Conduct+ (CoC+) was incorporated into the new Digital Services Act. Code of CoC+ is meant to improve platforms’ responses to illegal hate speech.
In this month marking the 10th year of the Code, we want to share our take on how it all played out:
I Dialogue, Engagement, and Accountability
The Code has initiated important communication between social media platforms and civil society organizations. INACH values open and equal dialogue with these platforms. We will continue to create opportunities for our members, who represent various marginalized groups in Europe and actively combat online hate, to engage with these important stakeholders. At the same time, we maintain a healthy critical distance from the platforms.
II Systemic Challenges of Online Hate
The Code was a milestone in the professionalization and institutionalization of holding platforms accountable for the content that appears online. However, the implementation of the Code has varied over the years when it comes to reviewing and removing illegal hate speech, and it failed to establish a consistent system across countries, languages, and platforms. Additionally, we value monitoring exercises however we see that online hate is embedded in a large ecosystem of disinformation, conspiracy theories, synthetic propaganda and harmful narratives that are pushed by algorithms and it is simply impossible to counter that by reporting illegal comments one by one.
III Compliance Without Reduction
We have noticed concerning signs in the monitoring of the CoC+ during its first year. The initial results raise concerns that the recent changes and the institutionalisation of the Code under the DSA may not, in practice, lead to a reduction in illegal hate speech online. Rather than removing harmful content, platforms may increasingly rely on other measures, such as geoblocking, that are permitted under the DSA. While such approaches may be compliant, they do not fully address the underlying issue of online hate speech.
Online hate speech continually evolves, and we cannot examine it as isolated incidents. We now see a broader ecosystem that blends disinformation, hate, and AI-driven narratives. In recent years, there have been more instances of hate speech being monetized across various platforms.
We believe CoC+ should not consider geoblocking / content visibility restrictions as removal because it gives a false impression of improvement. Disputed cases challenged by the platforms should not be excluded from the data, as doing so would create a biased impression of removal rates.
