Facebook Inc. may be ordered to remove offensive content posted by users in the European Union and then also hunt for similar posts anywhere in the world, according to an EU court opinion that the internet giant warned was a threat to freedom of speech.

Since the EU's law for digital services and electronic commerce "does not regulate the territorial scope of an obligation to remove information disseminated via a social network platform, it does not preclude a host provider from being ordered to remove such information worldwide," Advocate General Maciej Szpunar of the EU Court of Justice said Tuesday.

Scrutiny of Facebook in the EU has intensified since the bloc introduced strict new privacy rules a year ago, giving data regulators for the first time real teeth and the power to fine companies as much as 4% of annual sales for the most serious violations. Antitrust regulators too have been probing the social network over how it tracks users' internet browsing.