Arcom relaunches the online hate observatory and defines its work program for 2026

The French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication (Arcom) today convened a meeting at Arcom headquarters (75012) of the members of its newonline hate observatory[1], and announced the creation of two working groups: one on the role of influencers and content creators in the diffusion of hateful content, and the other on the terms of service (CGU) of online platforms as a tool for preventing hateful behavior.

Through this overhaul of the observatory, undertaken at the same time as the designation of trusted flaggers[2], the Authority aims to strengthen the mobilization of all players involved in the fight against online hate (discriminatory, racist, homophobic comments, death threats, etc.), a phenomenon which affects a great many citizens or groups of citizens every day.

The entry into force of the European regulation on digital services (RSN - Digital Services Act), structuring the regulation of platforms, made it essential to adapt the methods and organization of the observatory.

The overhaul is based on three objectives:

• To reaffirm the Observatory's strategic role in helping authorities, civil society and the general public to understand and prevent a phenomenon;
• Focus on particularly worrying trends or practices, identify the obstacles (technical, legal, organizational) to resolving them, and propose operational notices for the attention of authorities or platforms to put an end to them (amendments to legislation or regulations, moderation tools, AI, etc.);
• Provide a clearly identified and structured forum for dialogue to facilitate the exchange of information between all interested parties.

In particular, this new configuration is based on a smaller number of permanent members (28, compared with some 50 previously), to facilitate mobilization and enable more regular work, while opening up the work to other relevant contributors, depending on the subjects addressed.

The priority of this new phase is the operational launch of the two working groups for the current year.

The first group will be tasked with analyzing and documenting a specific trend, while the second will focus on a concrete means of fighting fight agains hateful content.

This year, the two working groups will focus on :

1. The role of influencers and content creators in the diffusion of hate content;
2. The terms of service of online platforms and social networks as a tool for preventing hateful behavior.

The conclusions of these first two working groups will be published at the end of 2026.

Fighting online hate requires the mobilization of all stakeholders (authorities, associations, researchers) to highlight the risks that platforms will then be demanded to eliminate (removal of illegal content, correction of algorithmic biases, etc.).

However, this mobilization can only be fully effective if these players have the means to meet the challenges. In this respect, Arcom welcomes the creation, last July, of a coalition of associations at the initiative of Aurore Bergé, Minister for Equality between Women and Men and the Fight against Discrimination, as well as the prospect of financial support from the State for those wishing to apply for trusted flagger status.