Social media firms face fines for failing to remove gang recruitment ads within an hour

Social media companies must remove gang recruitment advertisements within one hour of police notification or face fines of up to 5 million Swedish kronor, under a new law that took effect today, SVT Nyheter reports.

Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer (M) told SVT the legislation gives police “concrete tools to quickly stop recruitment ads for serious violent crimes.”

Niclas Andersson, head of the investigation unit at Noa, welcomed the law, stating that gangs use the ads to recruit youth for crimes including murder, bombings, arson, and drug trafficking. “These ads are very open, and they appear on platforms where children and young people spend time,” he said.

The law expands police authority beyond counterterrorism to include gang recruitment. Previously, police could only remove terrorism-related content.

Ängla Pändel, a lawyer with the Institute for Law and Internet (IJI), noted that collecting fines from foreign tech giants has historically been difficult but suggested the one-hour deadline may create a “chilling effect,” where platforms remove more content than necessary to avoid penalties. She added that the risk of the law affecting ordinary ads is low, as it specifically targets content used to recruit individuals for serious crimes or to involve children in criminal activity.

SVT Nyheter sought comment from Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp), Snapchat, Telegram, TikTok, and Signal.