Frontex soll soziale Medien auf Hinweise zu illegaler Migration überwachen

The European Commission announced plans on Tuesday for a comprehensive reform of Frontex, the agency tasked with combating irregular migration. The reforms aim to expand Frontex's authority and capabilities in the fight against unauthorized migration. In the future, Frontex plans to play a larger role in the expulsion of people without residence rights and can perform expulsions outside the EU as well.

Additionally, the agency will be granted new competencies in monitoring social media. The significance of social networks in spreading information that may encourage irregular migration was demonstrated in July at the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, where thousands of migrants unlawfully crossed the border within hours. Under the new plans, Frontex will establish a center for monitoring and responding to online content.

This center will assess publicly accessible posts on social media to detect developments relevant to protecting the EU's external borders. Furthermore, the position will assist in taking measures against illegal online content related to security risks at the borders, the EU Commission Vice-President in charge of the matter, Henna Virkkunen, announced to journalists on Tuesday.

The authority will also act as a "trusted flagger" under the Digital Services Act, reporting illegal content on online platforms and requesting national authorities to issue orders for the removal of such content, according to the Commission's press release. The "trusted flagger" status is provided for under the DSA, the European law regulating digital platforms, and will be granted by the responsible national digital oversight authorities.

Virkkunen indicated that Frontex would apply for the corresponding status in national authorities. Given the agency's specialized expertise, it is expected to be granted.