Facebook, Google, Twitter urged to change terms for European users or face fines

European authorities demand that more be done by social media giants to tackle fraud, scams and unsuitable content on their networks

Facebook, Google, Twitter and other social media networks will have to change their terms of service for European users within a month or risk the wrath of European authorities.

A European Commission official told Reuters on Friday that if the companies don't change their terms then they could be fined.

The Commission sent letters to the companies in December, which explained how their service terms did not comply with EU consumer protection law, and that more needed to be done to tackle fraud and scams perpetrated via their websites.

In the letters seen by Reuters, the terms that the authorities wanted to amend included requiring users to seek compensation in a Californian court because the tech companies are based there, instead of their country of residence.

The EU authorities also want social media companies to flag sponsored content clearly, and ensure that mandatory rights, such as the right to cancel a contract, cannot be waived. It also wants companies to do more to determine (ie: censor) the suitability of content generated by users.

The official said that the Commission, alongside European consumer protection authorities, would "take action to make sure social media companies comply with EU consumer rules".

Earlier this week, the German government said it would fine the likes of Facebook and Twitter up to €50m if they fail to remove slanderous or threatening posts that go up on the social network within 24 hours.

The new bill, which is still in draft, was introduced by justice minister Heiko Mass on Tuesday. It will cover defamation, slander, public prosecution, crimes and threats, and is intended to reduce so-called hate crime and criminal offences on social networks.

"There must be as little space for criminal incitement and slander on social networks as on the streets," Mass said, emphasising that social media companies were currently not doing enough to tackle a growing issue.

"Too few criminal comments are deleted and they are not erased quickly enough," he added. "The biggest problem is that networks do not take the complaints of their own users seriously enough…it is now clear that we must increase the pressure on social networks.

"We need legal regulations to make companies even more obligated to delete criminal content," he said.