FABA
The French American Bar Association (FABA), based in New York, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), based in San Francisco, CA, and Nadine Strossen, constitutional law professor emerita at New York Law School, and former ACLU president, are welcoming the invalidation of an internet hate speech bill (called the “Avia Bill”) by the French Supreme Court.
On June 01, 2020, FABA, EFF and Professor Strossen had submitted an amicus brief against the Avia Bill before the French “Conseil Constitutionnel” (French Supreme Court).
On May 18, 2020, 60 French senators filed a challenge with the French Supreme Court against the Avia Bill before its promulgation and after it passed in the National Assembly on May 13, 2020. The Court sided with our arguments stating that the requirements for social media platforms to take down suspicious content in 24 hours or one hour were unconstitutional.
The Avia Bill would have forced social media platforms to take down content which could qualify as illegal hate speech within 24 hours or an hour of its reporting, depending on the type of speech involved. The three brief’s authors argue that this bill is unconstitutional because the take down timing requirements will cause over-censorship of “perfectly legal speech”, “because the take down timing obligations are impracticable for the vast majority of platforms.”
In its decision, the Court held that this provision was unconstitutional, because “given the difficulties of evaluating whether a content is manifestly illicit, which is reported within the time limit, and given the penalty incurred from the first violation and the In the absence of specific grounds to apply the liability exemption, the contested provisions can only encourage social media platforms to withdraw content notified to them, whether or not they are manifestly illicit. Therefore, these provisions infringe on freedom of speech, and are not necessary, appropriate and proportionate. “
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading nonprofit organization defending civil liberties in the digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF champions user privacy, free expression, and innovation through impact litigation, policy analysis, grassroots activism, and technology development. We work to ensure that rights and freedoms are enhanced and protected as our use of technology grows.
Nadine Strossen is the John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law, Emerita at New York Law School. From 1991 through 2008, she served as President of the American Civil Liberties Union, the first woman to head the nation’s largest and oldest civil liberties organization. Professor Strossen is currently a member of the ACLU’s National Advisory Council, as well as the Advisory Boards of EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Center), FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education), and Heterodox Academy. Her 2018 book, HATE: Why We Should Resist It With Free Speech, Not Censorship, has been widely praised by ideologically diverse experts.
The French American Bar Association (“FABA”) is a not-for-profit association incorporated in the State of New York, and gathers a large number of leading Franco-American attorneys and in-house lawyers across the United States. FABA also has a sister group in Paris incorporated as a French not-for-profit entity which frequently interacts with the Paris Bar.