EU pushes Twitter, Facebook and Google for user policy changes

The European Union is pushing Google, Facebook and Twitter to change their terms of service for users.

The European Commission — the executive arm of the EU — sent the three American tech firms letters in June asking them to amend their terms of service by the end of September, first reported by Reuters and confirmed by The Hill. The Commission said the firms’ current proposals to change their terms were not sufficient, according to the news outlet.

{mosads}The Commission’s request to the companies comes after it asked Google, Facebook and Twitter to change their terms of service in March. At the time, the Commission said the companies’ terms of service “do not respect EU consumer law.”  The Commission took particular issue with how the terms of service in question addressed instances of fraud.

“It is not acceptable that EU consumers can only call on a court in California to resolve a dispute.” Commissioner Věra Jourová said in March.

European regulators also want the companies to notify users on their social media platforms when they decide to take a user’s content down and give them a chance to challenge the post’s removal.

Two of the companies submitted proposals for new terms of service and a third asked the Commission for an extension, a source told Reuters. The source reportedly did not specify which company wanted the extension.

Google and Twitter declined to comment, and Facebook did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Should the European Commission not see the terms of service it wants by September, it can pursue enforcement action, including handing down fines.

This story was updated on July 25, 2017 at 10:03 a.m.