More effective measures against the spread of terrorist content online
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns the government's proposal to adapt Swedish legislation to the EU's TCO Regulation in order to more effectively combat the spread of terrorist content online. Vänsterpartiet moves for approval of the proposal because the regulation already applies as Swedish law 1. Vänsterpartiet is, however, critical of the regulation and the government's proposal as the party stands behind the freedom of speech constitution and believes that measures against criminal statements should be taken ex post 1. Vänsterpartiet is skeptical of censorship-like filter solutions and shares the Chancellor of Justice's concern that it is unclear how the Swedish Police Authority should act when content is protected by constitutional laws 1. Vänsterpartiet also considers that the situation leads to a democratic deficit 1.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Jessica Wetterling (V)
Mr. Speaker! If anyone from the Committee on Justice is still in the chamber and listening to this, I want to assure them that Vänsterpartiet stands behind this report. I have, therefore, not intended to attempt any coup in four minutes here. I move for approval of the committee's proposal.
In this matter, a unanimous committee has supported the government's proposal, so has the Left Party. For us, it is nevertheless with a certain reluctance. I would therefore like to take a few minutes in the chamber to explain the reasons for our position in order to have it included in the chamber's minutes.
Just as the committee states in its report, the European Parliament and Council's regulation on measures to combat the dissemination of terrorist content online, the TCO Regulation, was adopted in 2021. Barely a year ago, the regulation began to be applied. It applies as Swedish law.
The regulation grants the national competent authorities of the different countries certain powers and imposes certain obligations on so-called hosting service providers. Among other things, a competent authority may issue an order that a hosting service provider shall remove terrorist content from its hosting service, which the provider is then obliged to do within one hour from the time it has received such an order.
To fulfill the requirements of the EU regulation and enable its application, the government proposes, among other things, a new law that gives the Swedish Police Authority, the competent authority in Sweden, the possibility to issue penalty notices and sanction fees against hosting service providers. The law also enables a certain exchange of information between the Swedish Police Authority and Säpo.
Mr. Speaker! In the European Parliament, the Left Party and our parliamentary group there voted against the regulation. One of the reasons for this is that the Left Party stands behind the Swedish freedom of expression act and the legislation we have, which states that measures against potentially criminal statements shall be taken ex post facto. We are also generally skeptical and critical of pre-screening and other censorship-like filter solutions.
The Government makes the assessment that the TCO Regulation and the legislative amendments proposed in the bill are not applicable in cases where they come into conflict with our media laws. I and the Vänsterpartiet note, however, that the Chancellor of Justice in its referral response considers that the conclusion regarding when the regulation shall be applied and when it shall not be applied is not entirely self-evident. The Chancellor of Justice considers, among other things, that it is unclear whether the Swedish Police Authority, in a situation where certain published content is judged to be protected by the Swedish constitutional laws, can refrain from issuing a removal order in the manner required by the regulation without violating Union law.
Vänsterpartiet shares the Chancellor of Justice's concern regarding this and will monitor the issue moving forward. We are therefore also critical of the TCO regulation itself and of the government's proposal in this matter. But since the regulation already applies as Swedish law today, it has not been possible for us to demand a rejection of the government's proposition, as it solely aims to adapt Swedish legislation to the regulation's requirements.
Mr. Speaker! This matter is unfortunately not a one-off occurrence but a consequence of Sweden's entry into the EU which, in this case among others, leads to a democratic deficit. It is also for these reasons that I, despite the Left Party's criticism of the regulation, have abstained from moving for a rejection of the government's proposition.
More effective measures against the spread of terrorist content online
The deliberation was hereby concluded.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.