On 20 January 2025, the revised Code of conduct on countering illegal hate speech online + (the ‘Code of conduct+’) was integrated into the regulatory framework of the Digital Services Act (DSA), following a positive assessment from the Commission and the European Board for Digital Services (‘the Board’).
The Code of conduct+, which builds on the Code of Conduct adopted in 2016, strengthens the way online platforms deal with content deemed illegal hate speech according to EU law and Member States’ laws. It facilitates compliance with and the effective enforcement of the DSA in this specific area.
Following its integration, adherence to the Code of conduct+ may be considered as an appropriate risk mitigation measure for signatories designated as Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) and Search Engines (VLOSEs) under the DSA.
The Code of conduct+ was signed and submitted for integration under the DSA by Dailymotion, Facebook, Instagram, Jeuxvideo.com, LinkedIn, Microsoft-hosted consumer services, Snapchat, Rakuten Viber, TikTok, Twitch, X and YouTube.
The DSA sets out a number of criteria for codes of conducts, including the need to have specific objectives, key performance indicators and take due account of the needs and interests of all interested parties. The Commission and the Board are tasked with assessing whether a code meets these aims above to contribute to the proper application of the DSA.
In their assessment of the Code of Conduct+, the Commission and the Board positively assessed the integration of the Code, and highlighted a number of recommendations which signatories are encouraged to take into account in its the implementation, such as:
- Providing information as part of their reporting on the outcome of the measures taken
- Providing additional data related to hate speech on their platforms (for example on the role of recommender systems and the organic and algorithmic reach of illegal content prior to its removal)
- Presenting country-level data broken down by the internal classification of hate speech (such as race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity or sexual orientation)
- Ensuring adequate follow-up to input derived from multi-stakeholder cooperation
The Commission and the Board will monitor and evaluate the achievement of the objectives included in the Code of conduct+ and facilitate the regular review and adaptation of the Code, taking into account these initial recommendations.
Find more information about the Codes of conduct under the Digital Services Act.
Below you can download the Code of Conduct, the Commission Opinion and the Conclusions of the Board for Digital Services about the Code.