Skip to Content

Heiko Maas, German justice minister. Wikipedia

Facebook and Twitter face wrath of German justice minister

Published: October 7, 2016, 12:14 pm

    Read more

    Facebook and Twitter are facing the wrath of Germany’s justice minister. He took a swipe this week at their slow response to “hate speech”.

    Heiko Maas warned that the spread of “online hate speech” on Facebook in Germany would lead to criminal liability for failing to delete “racist” posts reported by users.

    In an interview with the business daily Handelsblatt, Maas said that when organisations such as Jugendschutz, a youth protection watchdog, reported abusive comments on Facebook, they were deleted “relatively quickly”. But when normal users did so, they were removed in only 46 per cent of cases. With Twitter, it was only 1 per cent.

    Germany would consider making social media groups liable for such content if they fail to act, he warned: “This sword of Damocles is hanging over the social media, and they still have time to prove that we don’t need to make it their statutory obligation,” he said.

    Maas said companies that earn “a lot of money with social networks have a social obligation: no company wants to have its platform misused to commit crimes”.

    Chancellor Angela Merkel had requested Facebook to censor content at a meeting with the company’s founder Mark Zuckerberg in New York in September last year.

    Soon after, Facebook agreed to take part in a German task force to remove damaging posts, mostly about foreigners. German social media had exposed the many integration problems with the country’s migrant influx.

    Maas’s comments are the latest evidence of the increasingly unfriendly relationship between the German government and voters.

    On its website, the company claimed however that it was able to remove the “vast majority of content that violated standards”. Facebook has 29 million users in Germany.

    German officials have meanwhile banned Facebook from collecting and storing data of 35 million German users of its WhatsApp messaging service, after a ruling against the company for breaching data protection laws by sharing customer information.

    In March, Germany’s antitrust agency launched legal proceedings against Facebook, saying it suspected its conditions of use were in breach of German laws on data protection.

    karin@praag.org

    Consider donating to support our work

    Help us to produce more articles like this. FreeWestMedia is depending on donations from our readers to keep going. With your help, we expose the mainstream fake news agenda.

    Keep ​your language polite​. Readers from many different countries visit and contribute to Free West Media and we must therefore obey the rules in​,​ for example​, ​Germany. Illegal content will be deleted.

    If you have been approved to post comments without preview from FWM, you are responsible for violation​s​ of​ any​ law. This means that FWM may be forced to cooperate with authorities in a possible crime investigation.

    If your comments are subject to preview ​by FWM, please be patient. We continually review comments but depending on the time of day it can take up to several hours before your comment is reviewed.

    We reserve the right to del​ete​ comments that are offensive, contain slander or foul language, or are irrelevant to the discussion.

    Sweden’s Path into NATO – What has happened

    For over 200 years, Sweden has maintained its non-alignment and neutrality. Although the political parties have been predominantly supportive of NATO, they have refrained from pushing the issue, as public opinion has strongly favored maintaining neutrality. However, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the time seemed ripe. It suddenly became urgent to join NATO before public opinion shifted back. However, the burning of Qurans and Turkey’s capriciousness have caused complications.

    Spela på dina egna villkor

    Det är väl inte särskilt konstigt att man vill kunna bestämma själv över olika val i sitt liv, som med hur man vill använda sig av olika spel. Denna möjlighet är dock större då man väljer onlinespel.

    Health Benefits of CBD and What People Use It For

    The CBD compound is the second most popular compound we get through extraction from hemp and cannabis plants. The number one in popularity is THC, of course. When we think of THC, we usually connect it to the state of feeling “high,” sometimes even too intensely.

    Australian doctors denounce anti-hydroxychloroquine study as fake

    MelbourneAustralian infectious disease researchers have raised the alarm about fake data in a study published in The Lancet denouncing the drug hydroxychloroquine in the treatment Covid-19. The Australian Department of Health has been stockpiling millions of doses of hydroxychloroquine.

    ‘Shugaley’: In the hands of Islamist terrorists

    The Coronavirus pandemic has not been not an obstacle for the release of a new Russian movie about Libyan war, available online from April.

    Roger Scruton’s friend: ‘He gave us hope’

    Conservative philosopher Roger Scruton is dead. He died on January 12 of cancer. Scruton was honoured in 2016, but last year was subjected to a brutal smear campaign by the mainstream media and was at the end of his life persona non grata among the establishment. When death was imminent, Scruton told him that he had been deprived of both health and reputation, but expressed no resentment, only gratitude for all the positive things he had been involved in. The Swedish news outlet Nya Tider has spoke to Scruton's friend Gregory Lauder-Frost from the Traditional Britain Group.

    Merry Christmas to all our readers!

    The editorial staff of FreeWestMedia wishes you a blessed Christmas and a happy New Year! We thank you for the loyalty you have shown us throughout the year and for your support.

    Australia creates fake horoscopes to deter Sri Lankan migrants

    CanberraFor two years, Australian authorities have been broadcasting horoscopes with harmful predictions to dissuade potential migrants from carrying out their project.

    Will the Yellow Vests conquer the municipal elections?

    In the run-up to the 2020 municipal elections, the Yellow Vests intend to weigh in by loudly claiming their demands at a local level. And they will do so without necessarily presenting a list.

    Six out of 10 foreign-trained NHS doctors linked to sexual misconduct

    LondonShocking new figures from the UK's National Health Service (NHS) revealed that foreign-trained doctors commit six in ten cases of sexual misconduct with patients, even though they make up only a third of the NHS staff.

    Go to archive