Facebook to start giving French courts information on users suspected of hate speech

Facebook will start giving French courts information on users suspected of hate speech, according to France's minister for digital affairs.

France's Cedric O told Reuters about this deal with Facebook, calling it "huge news" while adding, "It's really very important, they’re only doing it for France." The agreement, which Reuters describes as a "world first," reportedly came about after a meeting between O and Facebook's head of global affairs, Nick Clegg.

Previously, the report notes, Facebook when requested would provide French judges with information, such as IP addresses, on users in cases related to terrorist attacks or other violent activity. It didn't provide that information on users suspected of hate speech until now, though, because "it was not compelled to do so under U.S.-French legal conventions and because it was worried countries without an independent judiciary could abuse it," Reuters writes.

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg last month held a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron as France considers a law that could potentially fine social media platforms that don't do enough to remove hateful content by up to four percent of their global revenue. O says guidelines will be provided on what would be considered hateful, Engadget reports. Facebook did not comment on Reuters' report.