Freedom of expression, hate and social networks: the options of the Spanish democratic legislator

Abstract

Freedom of expression and its limits have taken on new dimensions in the digital age. It is evident that the scope of freedom of expression has expanded through the use of the Internet. However, the advantages of this medium are accompanied by a series of risks. Defamatory, hateful or violent content can be spread like never before around the world in a matter of seconds and done so with impunity and anonymity. This new reality has had a double effect.
On the one hand, public institutions try to put limits on expressions of hate on the networks. In this regard, the question arises whether a law can hold Internet platforms accountable for hate speech expressed by third people or when these platforms can be required to remove the content and held accountable if they do not do so.
On the other hand, the large Internet platforms have become the controllers of these expressions of hate, creating their own rules to control the content that circulates on them. In this regard, the question that arises is whether digital platforms are free when it comes to moderating their content and the mediate or immediate effectiveness of the right to freedom of expression of users with respect to these platforms.
These are two complex questions that require coherent answers for both. Without a defined legal framework for these issues still existing in Spain, in this work we will address the possibilities that the Spanish democratic legislator has based on an analysis of the regulations and jurisprudence that have been developed on these two issues both in the United States and in the European Union