The German government has announced that it will be taking a more active role in sanctioning social media platforms if they do not adhere to the German laws regarding hate speech. The new laws will force Facebook, Google-owned YouTube and Twitter to be more diligent in deleting illegal posts.
The rise of fake news and hate speech on social media has been a concern of lawmakers around the globe. This is particularly true for Germany where hate speech that assaults human dignity and calls for violence is punishable by up to a maximum of five years in prison.
For months, Facebook has come head to head with German lawmakers on the former's unwillingness to take responsibility in policing content published in its own platform according to New York Times. According to a recent government report, only 46 percent of content flagged as illegal was taken down by Facebook, while only 10 percent was removed by YouTube and one percent on was deleted by Twitter as of September 2016.
Although Facebook has adopted stricter policies and created Online Civil Courage Initiative that challenges hate speech, many agree that it's not enough. German lawmakers headed by Angela Merkel is demanding that Facebook and other social media platforms should delete hate speech posts within 24 hours, the Guardian says.
Some of the sanctions that Germany is considering will be to impose a fine of up to €500,000 on-the-spot or a fine computed based on the social media giant's annual revenue should they refrain from removing hate speech offenses within the specified time-frame.
Heiko Maas, the German justice minister, said that the government needs more transparency in terms of the number of complaints filed and how many of it were deleted. It is also calling for clearer channels for lodging complaints and hiring qualified people to delete illegal posts.
According to Maas, if Facebook, Google and Twitter do not adhere to Germany's hate speech law, the government will implement the sanctions by next year.
