XPost: 24hoursupport.helpdesk, alt.politics.scorched-earth, uk.politics.misc   
   XPost: uk.legal, alt.politics.uk   
   From: burfordTjustice@tues.uk   
      
   Like the UK free speech is dead.   
      
   German official wants $53M fines for social media hate posts   
      
   BERLIN (AP) -- Germany's justice minister is proposing fines of up to   
   50 million euros ($53 million) for social networking sites that fail to   
   swiftly remove illegal content, such as hate speech or defamatory "fake   
   news."   
      
   The plan announced Tuesday marks a further step in Germany's attempt to impose   
   its strict domestic laws against incitement on the free-wheeling world of   
   online chatter.   
      
   Justice Minister Heiko Maas, a member of the center-left Social Democratic   
   Party, said social media companies had already taken voluntary steps to crack   
   down on hate crimes that have resulted in improvements.   
      
   "This isn't sufficient yet," Maas said, citing research that he said showed   
   Twitter deletes just 1 percent of illegal content flagged by users, while   
   Facebook deletes 39 percent.   
      
   The proposal would require companies to provide a round-the-clock service for   
   users to flag illegal content, which would have to be removed by the site   
   within seven days. All copies of the content would also have to be deleted and   
   social media companies    
   would need to publish a quarterly report detailing how they have dealt with   
   such material.   
      
   Sites would also have to nominate a person responsible for handling   
   complaints, who could face fines of up to 5 million euros personally if the   
   company fails to abide by mandatory standards.   
      
   Maas said the measures, which will become part of a bill to be put before   
   Parliament, wouldn't restrict freedom of speech that already exists in Germany   
   and there were no plans to create a "truth commission" against so-called fake   
   news.   
      
   But he noted that fake news could constitute illegal content "if it   
   constitutes slander, defamation or libel."   
      
   Facebook said it would examine the proposal. "We have clear rules against hate   
   speech and are working hard to remove such content from our platform," the   
   company said in a statement, adding it was working with the government to   
   tackle the issue.   
      
   However, Facebook said tests it commissioned showed higher rates of removal   
   than those cited by Maas. Facebook also said it had taken measures to train   
   staff in how to deal with the legal situation in Germany and expects to have   
   700 people in Berlin    
   examining flagged content by the end of the year.   
      
   Twitter declined to comment directly on the proposal, but noted that it had   
   taken a number of measures in recent months designed to prevent abuse and   
   allow users to filter unwanted content.   
      
   Germany poses a particular problem for U.S.-owned social networking sites   
   accustomed to American standards of free speech. Due to its Nazi past, Germany   
   bans public Holocaust denial and any overt promotion of racism. The issue has   
   come to the fore amid    
   the recent influx of migrants to Germany, which has sparked a backlash among   
   some Germans including a rise in online vitriol.   
      
   Robert Singer, the chief executive of the World Jewish Congress, praised the   
   Maas proposal.   
      
   "The internet is awash with hateful content, a lot of which is incitement to   
   hatred and violence. Currently, it often takes providers far too long to   
   remove or block such content," he said. "It's important that the internet   
   companies and politicians take    
   this problem seriously, and we commend Germany for taking the lead on this.   
      
   The proposal won't affect media outlets already covered by other German laws,   
   said Philip Scholz, a Justice Ministry spokesman. A bill could go before   
   lawmakers ahead of Germany's general election in September, though such a   
   timetable was "ambitious," he    
   said.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)