Upcoming Law in EU May Affect your Sites

Whenever you’re running a website, you have to always keep an eye on the news.  Maybe there’s something big coming up in your sector.  Maybe there’s a new competitor that just released.  Or maybe there’s a new regulation coming that will potentially affect your website.  Well, that’s exactly the situation right now and I’m here to give you all the details.

What exactly is this law?

To keep things short and sweet, it’s a law that will make companies and owners a little more accountable for terrorist-related material appearing on their site.  Woah woah, I’m not saying you have that material or that you WANT that material, but sometimes people upload things you don’t want on your website and you have to take it down.  That’s exactly what this law is going to enforce.

Details are still being fleshed out, but the big idea is — if you don’t remove the terrorist-related material after a warning from the authorities, you’ll pay a fine.  There could be more punishment after that if you still refuse but really do you actually want that material on your site for even a second more, anyway?

Who might be affected by this law?

Social media is probably the biggest sector affected.  Users can upload almost anything to websites and it’s generally days before offensive material is found and removed.  Also, it’s important to remember that this isn’t some world government, it’s the EU so truthfully only those in the EU might be affected, though it’s still probably a good idea to remove that kind of material from your site should you find it.

Is there anything I can do to get ahead of this potential law?

There are some plug-ins and add-ons out there that can help filter offensive content, so taking a long look at those is never a bad idea.  Also, just keep an eye out in the coming months for the regulation.  Other than that, there’s really not a whole lot to be done.  In fact, it’s unlikely to even affect you as I don’t think there’s going to suddenly be a slew of terrorists just itching to invade your website.

Lastly, keep in mind that this is just a law that’s being proposed right now.  It could even fail entirely.  But even so, it’s a good idea to keep an eye out for this and any other laws that might affect your website.