Twitter will of course help to identify the perpetrators of racist tweets and ... - France Info

Twitter will help identify perpetrators of hate tweets © Reuters – Regis Duvignau

The Paris Court of Appeal dismissed Twitter Wednesday. It confirms the obligation of the social network of five organizations to communicate human rights information about the perpetrators of racist and anti-Semitic tweets.

The case dates back to last October. On the Twitter social network, users spread racist and anti-Semitic messages behind hashtags (keyword) and unbonjuif unjuifmoprt. In late November 2012, the micro-blog site had been assigned in referred by the Union of Jewish Students of France (UEJF) J’accuse! (International action for justice), SOS Racisme, the Movement against Racism and for Friendship between Peoples (MRAP) and the International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism (Lycra).

In January, the court ruled in favor of associations and asked Twitter to communicate information to identify those who had contributed to the creation of clearly unlawful tweet. Paris Court also ordered Twitter to develop a device “easily accessible and visible” allowing anyone to report illegal content.

In its ruling Wednesday, the Court of Appeal found that Twitter had not provided the data, nor the justification for a failure to provide it. She also noted that the system put in place was not “as easily accessible and visible.”

The court therefore requires Twitter to provide data. In a statement, the social network said “be disappointed that the Court decided not to hear our appeal. We will explore options, including resubmitting the call.”

“Twitter must execute judgments”

“We have made significant progress with Twitter since December. Associations fight against discrimination can intervene to stop the avalanche of hate speech that regularly pour on the Internet. But illegal published on Twitter will nevertheless remain illegal, and the application of the French law is not a “ option, said the spokesman of the government, Najat Belkacem-Vallaud.

“Twitter must execute court decisions to allow identification and thus the conviction of the perpetrators of these heinous tweets” , the Minister added.