The one-hour deadline applies to content that French authorities consider to be related to terrorism or child sexual abuse.

Failing to act could result in fines of up to 4% of global revenue - billions of euros for the largest online firms.

But critics say the new law could restrict freedom of expression.

The new rules apply to all websites, whether large or small. But there are concerns that only internet giants such as Facebook and Google actually have the resources to remove content as quickly as required.

Digital rights group La Quadrature du Net said the requirement to take down content that the police considered “terrorism” in just one hour was impractical.

“If the site does not censor the content, for example because the report is sent on a weekend or overnight, the police can require [the whole site] to be blocked everywhere in France by internet service providers,” it said.

It said the power to decide what should be removed should not lie with the police but with judges.
Incitement to hatred

France’s new law reflects one proposed at the European Union level, where law-makers last year suggested a one-hour deadline for the removal of content.

But that proposal proved controversial and is currently in limbo.

France pushed ahead with its own version of the law despite the concerns in Europe.

Under the new French law, content judged to be illegal - but not relating to terrorism or child sexual abuse - will have to be taken down within 24 hours of notification.

That includes posts inciting hatred, violence, racism, and sexual harassment.

Failure to remove content could attract a fine of up to €1.25m (£1.1m).

France’s regulator, the Superior Council of the Audiovisual (CSA), will have the power to impose heftier fines of up to 4% of global turnover for continuous and repeated violations.

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Laetitia Avia, the MP from President Macron’s LREM party who proposed the bill, said the law would protect victims, while reaffirming the country’s commitment to freedom of expression.

However, France’s Republicans party voted against the measure.

Member Constance Le Grip told the National Assembly that fighting online hatred could not come at the expense of freedom of expression.

Her colleague in the Senate Bruno Retailleau tweeted that the new law was “incompatible with respect for public freedoms”.

Facebook said it was working closely with French regulator CSA and others “on the implementation of this law”.

YouTube said it already tackled illegal content and welcomed any new partnership with governments.

Twitter’s head of public affairs in France, Audrey Herblin-Stoop, told Reuters that the company would continue to work with the government to fight illegal content and hate speech.

In total, the misleading videos had been viewed more than 62 million times.

Among the false claims was the idea that pharmaceutical companies already have a coronavirus vaccine but are refusing to sell it.

YouTube said it was committed to reducing the spread of harmful misinformation.

The researchers suggested “good quality, accurate information” had been uploaded to YouTube by government bodies and health experts.

But it said the videos were often difficult to understand and lacked the popular appeal of YouTube stars and vloggers.

The study, published online by BMJ Global Health, looked at the most widely viewed coronavirus-related videos in English, as of 21 March.

After excluding duplicate videos, videos longer than an hour and videos that did not include relevant audio or visual material, they were left with 69 to analyse.

The videos were scored on whether they presented exclusively factual information about viral spread, coronavirus symptoms, prevention and potential treatments.

Videos from government agencies scored significantly better than other sources, but were less widely viewed.

Of the 19 videos found to include misinformation:

• about a third came from entertainment news sources

• national news outlets accounted for about a quarter

• internet news sources also account for about a quarter

• 13% had been uploaded by independent video-makers

The report recommends that governments and health authorities should collaborate with entertainment news sources and social media influencers to make appealing, factual content that is more widely viewed.

YouTube said in a statement: "We’re committed to providing timely and helpful information at this critical time, including raising authoritative content, reducing the spread of harmful misinformation and showing information panels, using NHS and World Health Organization (WHO) data, to help combat misinformation.

"We have clear policies that prohibit videos promoting medically unsubstantiated methods to prevent the coronavirus in place of seeking medical treatment, and we quickly remove videos violating these policies when flagged to us. Now any content that disputes the existence or transmission of Covid-19, as described by the WHO and the NHS is in violation of YouTube policies. For borderline content that could misinform users in harmful ways, we reduce recommendations.

“We’ll continue to evaluate the impact of these videos on communities around the world.”
Analysis

by Marianna Spring, specialist disinformation and social media reporter

In recent weeks, there has been an increase in highly polished videos promoting conspiracy theories being shared on YouTube - and they prove very popular.

So these findings - although concerning - are not surprising.

The accurate information shared by trusted public health bodies on YouTube tends to be more complex.

It can lack the popular appeal of the conspiracy videos, which give misleading explanations to worried people who are looking for quick answers, or someone to blame.

That includes videos such as Plandemic, which was widely shared online last week.

High-quality production values and interviews with supposed experts can make these videos very convincing. Often facts will be presented out of context and used to draw false conclusions.

And tackling this kind of content is a game of cat-and-mouse for social media sites.

Once videos gain traction, even if they are removed, they continue to be uploaded repeatedly by other users.

It is not just alternative outlets uploading misinformation either. Whether for views or clicks, the study suggests some mainstream media outlets are also guilty of spreading misleading information.

The so-called “Plandemic” video is edited in the style of a documentary, with much higher production standards than many conspiracy videos.

The video is filled with medical misinformation about where the virus came from and how it is transmitted.

Despite efforts to remove it, users are constantly re-uploading the clip.

Since the 26-minute video first appeared earlier this week, it has exploded across YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other websites, prompting an attempt to remove it.

Among its claims are that the virus must have been released from a laboratory environment and could not possibly be naturally-occurring; that using masks and gloves actually makes people more sick; and that closing beaches is “insanity” because of “healing microbes” in the water.

Such claims are not supported by reliable medical and scientific advice.

The video also suggests that the number of deaths is being deliberately falsified, in order to exert control over the population.

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Analysis

By Marianna Spring, specialist disinformation reporter

Scammers, pranksters and politicians have all been guilty of starting misleading rumours - but people passing themselves off as experts in videos like this one have become crucial to the spread of false claims.

Documentary-style films which promote conspiracy theories are increasingly popular, and a marked evolution from the dodgy medical advice being forwarded on WhatsApp at the start of the pandemic.

Slick production means videos often look quite credible initially - before promoting totally false claims. That makes them as dangerous - if not more so - than advice with a mix of truth and misleading medical myths.

The videos often get a lot more attention than content from trusted media outlets, and the controversial experts they feature have amassed their own fan bases. The misinformation they propagate usually serves to undermine information from trusted health bodies and authorities.

It’s a game of cat-and-mouse for social media sites like YouTube, since the same item can be uploaded again and again by different users.

The video has been viewed millions of times across multiple platforms. Facebook, YouTube, and Vimeo have all removed versions of it from their sites.

But such efforts may benefit the film-maker, who claims that there is a large-scale conspiracy to hide the truth.

In a post saying the 26-minute video is an excerpt from a future full-length documentary, he urges readers to download the video directly and re-post it elsewhere, “in an effort to bypass the gatekeepers of free speech”.

Since the pandemic began, the social networks have all had to adapt their content policies to deal with potentially dangerous misinformation.

Twitter said it would remove “unverified claims” that could prove dangerous, while Facebook has brought in new tools to point users towards reliable sources of information.

YouTube said it removes “medically unsubstantiated diagnostic advice”, and this video was removed for making claims about a cure for Covid-19, even though it is not backed by health organisations.

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Aamir Liaquat has been the subject of controversy in the past and this time he also made a joke about the demise of Bollywood actors Irfan Khan and Sri Devi, after which he has faced a strong reaction on social media.

However, Aamir Liaquat has recently apologized for his statement in a video message and said that he was apologizing as a humanitarian.

The idea of ​​special broadcasts on local media regarding Ramadan is nothing new in Pakistan. It is not possible to mention this type of broadcasting and not to mention Amir Liaquat Hussain.

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Amir Liaquat has been working as an anchor person for local media for more than a decade. During this time, he has been a part of special Ramadan broadcasts of various TV channels as an anchor person.

However, what did Amir Liaqat say yesterday that he had to apologize for?
“I’m sorry to be a part of Aamir Liaquat’s show.”
Image copyright MOM PR

Amir Liaquat, the host of a private TV program ‘Jive Pakistan’, had invited Pakistan’s leading actor Adnan Siddiqui to his show.

On one occasion during the show, Amir Liaquat addressing Adnan Siddiqui said that whoever you work with outside the country dies. He told Adnan Siddiqui that he saved the lives of two people, Rani Mukherjee and Bipasha Basu.

Aamir Liaquat said that Adnan Siddiqui has recently refused to act in two films in which the two actresses were cast as heroines.

Prior to this statement, he referred to well-known Bollywood actors Irfan Khan and Sri Devi with whom Adnan Siddiqui had worked in the past.

It may be recalled that Sri Devi died of a heart attack on February 25, 2018 while Irfan Khan passed away on April 29, 2020.

However, Adnan Siddiqui said that he was deeply saddened by the demise of Sri Devi and Irfan Khan and in reply to Aamir Liaquat said, “It will be a joke for you but not a joke for me.”
Image copyright adnanactor @adnanactor

In a statement issued after the show on the social networking site Twitter, Adnan Siddiqui wrote, "It is very inappropriate to make fun of those who have passed away. Not only him (Aamir Liaqat) and I but our The country was presented in the wrong way.

“I am sorry to be a part of Aamir Liaquat’s show,” he added.
Reaction on social media

The video of the show went viral on social media and users also criticized Aamir Liaquat for his controversial statement.

Commenting on Aamir Liaqat’s apology, a user said, “Who doesn’t like it when someone apologizes, but does the forgiveness of a person who makes the same mistake over and over again have any meaning?”

While users on social media seemed to appreciate Adnan Siddiqui’s behavior, other users also raised the question of why private TV channels recruit Aamir Liaquat knowing his controversial history.
Image copyright aamnaisani aamnaisani

Nada Kirmani, a lecturer in the Department of Sociology at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), said, “Why do we still wonder what Amir Liaqat said or did?”

Last year, Aamir Liaquat slammed the Women’s March, calling it a “foreign agenda to distort the face of Pakistan”, which drew a strong response on Twitter.
Image copyrights @nidkirm nidkirm
Amir Liaqat and controversy, with a bra

Amir Liaquat Hussain has been issued notices by PEMRA several times for sharing hateful material in his program, but the courts have also taken notice of his statements several times.

PEMRA had on January 26, 2017 banned the private TV program ‘Aise Nahin Chale Ga’ due to various complaints.

It is to be noted that the host of this program Amir Liaqat had made a hate speech against Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman, the owner of private TV channel Geo and others, disregarding the orders of the Supreme Court.

Amir Liaquat Hussain was indicted by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on November 7, 2018.

In the past, the Islamabad High Court had also banned Aamir Liaquat Hussain from making hate speeches in a TV program, not only from his program but also from inviting him as an observer in any program.

What this recent controversy and past incidents have in common is that Amir Liaquat Hussain still apologized.

PEMRA should take notice of this statement

Despite Amir Liaquat’s apology, consumers are demanding the Pakistan Media and Regulatory Authority to take notice of Aamir Liaquat’s statement.

PEMRA had earlier issued instructions to local entertainment TV channels against airing dramas on controversial and immoral topics.
Image copyrights Tweeterist_ weetTweeterist_

PEMRA had issued a formal code of conduct for TV channels in 2015 stating that Naz