Not enough to remove hate speech, social networks must archive evidence: Human Rights Watch

Paris: Social media networks should start archiving hate speech and other illegal posts after taking them down so they can be used as evidence in prosecutions, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.

Platforms were becoming more reactive in removing undesirable content, the New York-based rights group said in a report.

But it was time that such content was preserved to facilitate any subsequent prosecution of individuals, including war criminals, HRW said.

“Social media content, particularly photographs and videos, posted by perpetrators, victims, and witnesses to abuses, as well as others has become increasingly central to some prosecutions of war crimes and other international crimes,” it said.