The Commission recently proposed a Regulation which aims to lay down uniform rules to prevent the misuse of hosting services for the dissemination of terrorist content online. Its subject matter amounts to an interference with freedom of expression to the extent that it brings within its scope speech protected under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the ECHR. The Proposal has already sparked considerable controversy and triggered debate on its fundamental rights implications as regards freedom of expression but also other fundamental rights. If adopted, it will constitute a remarkable internal market legislation providing for a harmonised restriction of fundamental rights, with the aim to combat terrorism. This paper will investigate the proposed Regulation, focusing especially on the fact that, as an internal market instrument, it shifts an important share of the responsibility for addressing the problem of dissemination of terrorist content online to private parties.

Our 2020 Annual Conference was scheduled to be held at the University of Wrocław in Poland on July 9-11, 2020.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ICON·S Executive Committee has decided to postpone our 2020 Conference to 2021. Our next Annual Conference will take place from July 8-10, 2021, in Wrocław, Poland.
Procedural details regarding the organization of the 2021 Conference will follow in the months ahead.
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