Facebook to hand over data in prosecution of 'hate speech'

In a global first, Facebook will turn over to French judges the data of people suspected of "hate speech," according to a French official.

The move was announced Wednesday by France's secretary of state for the digital sector, Cédric O, reported the Washington Examiner.

Sonia Cisse, a counsel at law firm Linklaters, told Reuters it's "a strong signal in terms of regulation."

"Hate speech is no longer considered part of freedom of speech, it's now on the same level as terrorism," she said.

In May, O said social media companies such as Facebook "need regulation like banks," calling them "systemic actors."

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Reuters said French President Emmanuel Macron and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg met several times before making the agreement.

Macron's party, En Marche, is proposing to fine tech companies 4 percent of their global revenue if they don't take steps to remove hate speech on their platforms.

Jihad Watch director Robert Spencer commented that Facebook's agreement with the European nation "heralds the end of France as a free society and, if this spreads to other nations, as it likely will, the imminent death of other free societies in the West."

He said the ban amounts to classifying anything those in power dislike as "hate speech."

Spencer argued that "hate speech" is a subjective judgment and "not remotely in the same category as terrorism."

"I think opposing jihad terror and Sharia oppression of women and others is what everyone should do if he or she believes in the dignity of every human person and a free, pluralistic society in which people of differing beliefs and ideologies live together with mutual respect," he wrote.

Spencer pointed out that influential bodies such as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Southern Poverty Law Center have regarded opposition to their agendas as "hate speech."

"And now Facebook is paving the way for those who engage in this so-called hate speech to be prosecuted."