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(1) This Regulation aims to ensure the smooth functioning of the digital single market in an open and democratic society, by addressing the misuse of hosting services for terrorist purposes and contributing to public security across the Union. The functioning of the digital single market should be improved by reinforcing legal certainty for hosting service providers and users’ trust in the online environment, as well as by strengthening safeguards to the freedom of expression, including the freedom to receive and impart information and ideas in an open and democratic society and the freedom and pluralism of the media.

(2) Regulatory measures to address the dissemination of terrorist content online should be complemented by Member State strategies to address terrorism, including the strengthening of media literacy and critical thinking, the development of alternative and counter narratives, and other initiatives to reduce the impact of and vulnerability to terrorist content online, as well as investment in social work, deradicalisation initiatives and engagement with affected communities, in order to achieve the sustained prevention of radicalisation in society.

(3) Addressing terrorist content online, which is part of a broader problem of illegal content online, requires a combination of legislative, non-legislative and voluntary measures based on collaboration between authorities and hosting service providers, in a manner that fully respects fundamental rights.

(4) Hosting service providers active on the internet play an essential role in the digital economy by connecting business and citizens and by facilitating public debate and the distribution and receipt of information, opinions and ideas, contributing significantly to innovation, economic growth and job creation in the Union. However, the services of hosting service providers are in certain cases abused by third parties for the purpose of carrying out illegal activities online. Of particular concern is the misuse of those services by terrorist groups and their supporters to disseminate terrorist content online in order to spread their message, to radicalise and recruit followers, and to facilitate and direct terrorist activity.

(5) While not the only factor, the presence of terrorist content online has proven to be a catalyst for the radicalisation of individuals which can lead to terrorist acts, and therefore has serious negative consequences for users, citizens and society at large as well as for the online service providers hosting such content, since it undermines the trust of their users and damages their business models. In light of their central role and the technological means and capabilities associated with the services they provide, hosting service providers have particular societal responsibilities to protect their services from misuse by terrorists and to help address terrorist content disseminated through their services online, while taking into account the fundamental importance of the freedom of expression, including the freedom to receive and impart information and ideas in an open and democratic society.

(6) Efforts at Union level to counter terrorist content online commenced in 2015 through a framework of voluntary cooperation between Member States and hosting service providers. Those efforts need to be complemented by a clear legislative framework in order to further reduce the accessibility of terrorist content online and adequately address a rapidly evolving problem. The legislative framework seeks to build on voluntary efforts, which were reinforced by Commission Recommendation (EU) 2018/334 , and responds to calls made by the European Parliament to strengthen measures to address illegal and harmful content online in line with the horizontal framework established by Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council , as well as by the European Council to improve the detection and removal of content online that incites terrorist acts.

(7) This Regulation should not affect the application of Directive 2000/31/EC. In particular, any measures taken by a hosting service provider in compliance with this Regulation, including any specific measures, should not in themselves lead to that hosting service provider losing the benefit of the liability exemption provided for in that Directive. Moreover, this Regulation does not affect the powers of national authorities and courts to establish the liability of hosting service providers where the conditions set out in that Directive for liability exemption are not met.

(8) In the event of a conflict between this Regulation and Directive 2010/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council in relation to provisions governing audiovisual media services as defined in point (a) of Article 1(1) of that Directive, Directive 2010/13/EU should prevail. This should leave the obligations under this Regulation, in particular with regard to video-sharing platform providers, unaffected.

(9) This Regulation should set out rules to address the misuse of hosting services for the dissemination of terrorist content online in order to guarantee the smooth functioning of the internal market. Those rules should fully respect the fundamental rights protected in the Union and, in particular, those guaranteed by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (the ‘Charter’).

(10) This Regulation seeks to contribute to the protection of public security while establishing appropriate and robust safeguards to ensure the protection of fundamental rights, including the right to respect for private life, to the protection of personal data, to freedom of expression, including the freedom to receive and impart information, the freedom to conduct a business, and to an effective remedy. Moreover, any discrimination is prohibited. Competent authorities and hosting service providers should only adopt measures which are necessary, appropriate and proportionate within a democratic society, taking into account the particular importance accorded to the freedom of expression and information and the freedom and pluralism of the media, which constitute the essential foundations of a pluralist and democratic society and are values on which the Union is founded. Measures affecting the freedom of expression and information should be strictly targeted to address the dissemination of terrorist content online, while respecting the right to lawfully receive and impart information, taking into account the central role of hosting service providers in facilitating public debate and the distribution and receipt of facts, opinions and ideas, in accordance with the law. Effective online measures to address terrorist content online and the protection of freedom of expression and information are not conflicting but complementary and mutually reinforcing goals.

(11) In order to provide clarity about the actions that both hosting service providers and competent authorities are to take to address the dissemination of terrorist content online, this Regulation should establish a definition of ‘terrorist content’ for preventative purposes, consistent with the definitions of relevant offences under Directive (EU) 2017/541 of the European Parliament and of the Council . Given the need to address the most harmful terrorist propaganda online, that definition should cover material that incites or solicits someone to commit, or to contribute to the commission of, terrorist offences, solicits someone to participate in activities of a terrorist group, or glorifies terrorist activities including by disseminating material depicting a terrorist attack. The definition should also include material that provides instruction on the making or use of explosives, firearms or other weapons or noxious or hazardous substances, as well as chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) substances, or on other specific methods or techniques, including the selection of targets, for the purpose of committing or contributing to the commission of terrorist offences. Such material includes text, images, sound recordings and videos, as well as live transmissions of terrorist offences, that cause a danger of further such offences being committed. When assessing whether material constitutes terrorist content within the meaning of this Regulation, competent authorities and hosting service providers should take into account factors such as the nature and wording of statements, the context in which the statements were made and their potential to lead to harmful consequences in respect of the security and safety of persons. The fact that the material was produced by, is attributable to or is disseminated on behalf of a person, group or entity included in the Union list of persons, groups and entities involved in terrorist acts and subject to restrictive measures should constitute an important factor in the assessment.

(12) Material disseminated for educational, journalistic, artistic or research purposes or for awareness-raising purposes against terrorist activity should not be considered to be terrorist content. When determining whether the material provided by a content provider constitutes ‘terrorist content’ as defined in this Regulation, account should be taken, in particular, of the right to freedom of expression and information, including the freedom and pluralism of the media, and the freedom of the arts and sciences. Especially in cases where the content provider holds editorial responsibility, any decision as to the removal of the disseminated material should take into account the journalistic standards established by press or media regulation in accordance with Union law, including the Charter. Furthermore, the expression of radical, polemic or controversial views in the public debate on sensitive political questions should not be considered to be terrorist content.

(13) In order to effectively address the dissemination of terrorist content online, while ensuring respect for the private life of individuals, this Regulation should apply to providers of information society services which store and disseminate to the public information and material provided by a user of the service on request, irrespective of whether the storing and dissemination to the public of such information and material is of a mere technical, automatic and passive nature. The concept of ‘storage’ should be understood as holding data in the memory of a physical or virtual server. Providers of ‘mere conduit’ or ‘caching’ services, as well as of other services provided in other layers of the internet infrastructure, which do not involve storage, such as registries and registrars, as well as providers of domain name systems (DNS), payment or distributed denial of service (DdoS) protection services, should therefore fall outside the scope of this Regulation.