Germany has announced that social media websites that don’t remove “obviously illegal” posts could now face up to €50 million in fines.
BBC News reports that Germany plans to begin enforcing a law that could see social media companies such as Facebook and Twitter fined up to €50 million for hate speech on their platforms. The law gives the companies 24 hours to remove offending content from their platform once they have been notified of its existence. The law applies to any social media sites with more than 2 million members, this means that not only Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube will be at risk of fines, but also sites such as Reddit, Tumblr and Russian social media website VK.
The Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz (NetzDG) law was passed into law at the end of June 2017 and enforcement began at the start of October. Social media networks were informed of the law and told they had until the end of 2017 to prepare for the law’s implementation. Germany’s justice ministry announced plans to make forms available on their website that could be used by citizens to report content that violates the NetzDG. One of the requirements that NetzDG places on social media firms is not just that they remove content, but that they must have a fully working and detailed complaints system so that users can report offensive content. – READ MORE
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