Germany to issue fines for online hate posts
Print Edition
THE German cabinet approved a plan yesterday to fine social networks up to 50 million euros (US$53 million) if they do not remove hateful postings quickly, prompting concerns the law could limit free expression.
Germany already has some of the world’s toughest hate speech laws covering defamation, public incitement to commit crimes and threats of violence, backed up by prison sentences for Holocaust denial or inciting hatred against minorities.
“There should be just as little tolerance for criminal rabble rousing on social networks as on the street,” Justice Minister Heiko Maas said, adding that he would seek to push for similar rules at a European level.
The issue has taken on more urgency as German politicians worry that a proliferation of fake news and racist content, particularly about 1 million migrants who have arrived in the past two years, could sway public opinion in the run-up to the national election in September.
However, organizations representing digital companies, consumers and journalists, accused the government of rushing a law to parliament that could damage free speech.
“It is the wrong approach to make social networks into a content police,” said Volker Tripp, head of the Digital Society Association consumer group.
The draft law would give social networks 24 hours to delete or block obviously criminal content and seven days to deal with less clear-cut cases, with an obligation to report back to the person who filed the complaint.
Failure to comply could see a company fined up to 50 million euros, and the company’s chief representative in Germany fined up to 5 million euros.
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