BICOM

Israel’s Public Security Minister and Justice Minister have announced that they intend to introduce new legislation which would make it markedly easier to remove online content which incites violence or encourages terror.

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked  maintain that relatively uninhibited online incitement has played a major role in a wave of terror attacks by Palestinians, which has killed at least 39 innocent people since October. The attacks have almost exclusively been carried out by lone individuals, who often post messages related to their actions on social media platforms such as Facebook. Erdan highlighted the role of social media in the wake of the murder last week of 13-year-old Hallel Yaffe Ariel, who was stabbed to death in her bed by a Palestinian who indicated on Facebook that he intended to commit a violent attack.

Currently, Israel’s government, on the advice of security services and the National Cyber Association, submits complaints over such content to the likes of Facebook, who largely remove it. However, Erdan and Shaked want to drastically speed up the process by allowing the state to request the courts to order the providers to remove the content within twenty four hours. According to a statement by the two ministries, similar legislation already exists in Australia and France.

Noting the potential threat the proposed law poses to freedom of speech, the Ministry of Justice has clarified that such legislation would only be used in extreme cases and would be deployed sparingly.  In addition, Erdan and Shaked propose that an existing law be bolstered, which currently permits the closure of places, including websites, used for crimes such as paedophilia, gambling and drugs. Terrorism will now also be added to the list of categories. It would allow the authorities to disable websites which encourage terror.