In a post for the SSRC, Susan Benesch says human rights law could help social media companies regulate hateful speech.
“If and when it is adequately interpreted, international human rights law might serve as a useful guide for companies to regulate speech—and for outsiders to hold the companies accountable to an external standard. This should improve social media companies’ rules, since the law requires that speech restrictions be necessary, legitimate, and provided by law. Users would be better able to understand the rules, and to hold companies accountable for errors.”