Relevance to Internet Governance: The liability of online intermediaries and their content moderation regimes are an important aspect of the debate around freedom of expression, a quintessential topic for Internet governance and regulation. The IGF meetings have served as a catalyst to a number of debates concerning free speech online, from Internet shutdowns to the rise of fake news. Therefore, it is only natural that a Forum dedicated to discuss state of art themes on Internet Governance hosts some debates on how the recent fight against Covid-19 might change the way in which content removal and intermediaries’ liability are addressed by different stakeholders, such as governments, civil society, the private sector and the technical community.
Relevance to Theme: In 2019, the European Court of Justice decided that Facebook could be ordered to track and remove content globally if it was found to be illegal in one EU country. This decision represents a major step toward forcing hosting platforms to take greater responsibility for what is posted on their networks. From rules of notice and takedown to rules of removal by judicial order, the extent of the platforms' liability for content published by third parties is a key element to the debate on freedom of speech online. The fight against Covid-19 have forced platforms to adopt new rules of content moderation and triggered efforts from governments to reflect on the role of such intermediaries in the public discourse. This workshop proposal aims at providing different views from different stakeholders on what are lessons learned and how the current health crisis might impact future initiatives on content moderation and liability regimes.
