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Germany threatens online giants with 50mn euro fake news, hate speech fines

Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter could pay as high as $53 million if they do not take action on illegal hate messages made through their platforms in Germany. (Photo by Getty Images)

Germany on Wednesday took the European lead in cracking down against hate speech and fake news, threatening social media giants with fines of up to 50 million euros if they fail to remove offensive posts promptly.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet approved the tough measure after assessing that companies like Twitter and Facebook were not doing enough to erase content that falls foul of German law.

"Hate crimes that are not effectively combated and prosecuted pose a great danger to the peaceful cohesion of a free, open and democratic society," said Merkel's government in a statement.

Since the arrival of around one million asylum-seekers in Germany since 2015, the volume of xenophobic hate speech has exploded online.

Alarmed by the incendiary nature of the posts, the government has repeatedly warned the online behemoths to better police the content on their network.

The web companies had pledged in 2015 to examine and remove within 24 hours any hateful comments, but Justice Minister Heiko Maas said not enough was done.

Citing a government study, Maas said Twitter only took down one percent and Facebook 39 percent of the content reported by users.

Facebook page on a mobile phone 

Google's YouTube video sharing platform fared far better, with a rate of 90 percent.

Beyond hate speech and fake news, the draft legislation also covers other illegal content, including child pornography and terror-related activity.

The companies would have 24 hours to remove any posts that openly violate German law after they are flagged by users.

Other offensive content would have to be deleted within seven days after it is reported and reviewed.

Executives of the social media groups also risk individual fines up to five million euros ($5.3 million) in case of non-compliance.

Under German law, incitement of hatred and racist speech are illegal.

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But critics warned that the proposed law could stifle freedom of expression.

Renate Kuenast, an MP with the opposition Greens, said the fines were "almost an invitation to not just erase real insults, but to wipe out almost everything for the sake of playing it safe".

Likewise, the German Federation of Journalists said it would be "difficult to reconcile freedom of the press and opinion" with the proposed legislation.

Facebook warned that "this legislation would force private companies rather than the courts to become the judges of what is illegal in Germany".

More than 700 people will be working on the content review task force for the company in Berlin by year's end, said the group, which made profits of $3.7 billion (3.5 billion euros) in the last three months of 2016.

It also rejected the data cited by Maas, saying that a test carried out by FSM -- a self-regulation lobby group backed by online media -- found that Facebook deleted more than 65 percent of illegal content within a day.

(Source: AFP)


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