The French government is stepping up the pressure on Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. to help in the struggle against terrorist groups.

President Francois Hollande said Tuesday in Paris the government will present a draft law next month that makes Internet operators “accomplices” of hate-speech offenses if they host extremist messages. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said he will travel to the U.S. to seek help from the heads of Twitter Inc. and Microsoft Corp. as well as Google and Facebook. Spokesmen for the companies did not immediately return requests for comment.

Since Paris suffered deadly terror attacks earlier this month, the French government has been stiffening laws against incitement to violence and has cracked down on recruitment rings for Islamic radicals. Whereas a decade ago most potential Muslim terrorists emerged from underground mosques, security experts say they are now increasingly being radicalized and recruited online.

“The big operators, and we know who they are, can no longer close their eyes if they are considered accomplices of what they host,” Hollande said. “We must act at the European and international level to define a legal framework so that Internet platforms which manage social media be considered responsible, and that sanctions can be taken.”

Read the Full Article: Source – Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-27/france-seeks-to-sanction-web-companies-for-posts-pushing-terror

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