Claire Poirson’s Interview: Social Media and Violence: How Far Does Platform Liability Extend?

Our partner Claire Poirson appeared on M6’s 12.45 and 19.45 news programmes, as part of the segment “What role do social media platforms play in violence?”

She highlighted a key legal principle: online platforms are not subject to a general obligation to monitor the content they host.

“Social media platforms are not under a general obligation to monitor content; that is not their role. Nor is it their role to censor content: we live in a democracy, and they are obviously not expected to remove content indiscriminately. However, if they receive a notification concerning content that is manifestly illegal, they are required to remove it promptly.”

This reflects the balance established by the Digital Services Act (DSA): Article 8 prohibits the imposition of a general monitoring obligation, while the liability and notice-and-action framework requires hosting service providers to act diligently once they obtain actual knowledge or awareness of illegal content.

The key issue therefore lies in the legal classification of the content concerned: violent or shocking content is not necessarily unlawful as such. However, once content crosses the threshold of illegality and the platform has been duly notified, failure to act may expose it to liability.