French MPs move to make companies block hate speech online

The lower house of the French parliament has approved a measure that is intended to force search engines and social networks to take hate speech off the internet.

The measure adopted Thursday, after a heated discussion, would require social networks to remove hate speech within 24 hours of a confirmed violation, AP reported. Search engines would have to stop referencing the content as well.

The provision is part of a bill on internet regulation that targets videos or messages inciting or glorifying terrorism, hate, violence, or racist or religious abuse. Violators could face hefty fines.

President Emmanuel Macron proposed such a law earlier this year amid an uptick in anti-Semitic incidents and concerns about increasingly extremist language online.