Germany intends to fight fake news with a €50 mln fine

The German Parliament approved a plan Wednesday that will force social media companies like Facebook and Twitter to remove hate speech within 24 hours or face a fine of up to $53 million.

Angela Merkel’s cabinet voted on the measures amid concerns over free speech, with campaigners, technology firms and journalists raising fears that tightened regulations could restrict expression. "Hate crimes that are not effectively combated and prosecuted pose a great danger for the peaceful cohesion of a free, open and democratic society," said Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet.

The new law would give social networks 24 hours to delete or block criminal content and seven days to deal with less clear-cut cases, with an obligation to report back to the person who filed the complaint about how it was handled.

Failure to comply could see a company fined up to €50mln if it doesn't  remove hateful postings quickly and to make them reveal the identity of those behind the posts, with its chief representative in Germany handed an additional penalty of €5m.

Heiko Maas, the German justice minister, vowed to push for similar rules Europe-wide, adding: “There should be just as little tolerance for criminal incitement on social networks as on the street. “The internet affects the culture of debate and the atmosphere in our society. Verbal radicalization is often a preliminary stage to physical violence,” he added.

Mass cited research that claims Twitter removes just one percent of the illegal content flagged by users within 24 hours, while Facebook removes 39 percent. Facebook rejected Mass’s data, citing its own data that shows it removes about 65 percent of illegal content within a day.

The new law is designed to tackle the rise of hate speech online, which has become a particular problem in Germany in recent years with the influx of migrants to the country. In Germany, which has some of the strongest hate speech laws in the world, the issue has taken on increasing urgency ahead of the country’s federal elections in September, with concerns the proliferation of “fake news” and racist content online could affect the outcome.

Bitkom, an association that represents digital companies, said the government should build up specialist teams to monitor online content for potential infringements, rather than expect social networks to do it themselves.

"Given the short deadlines and the severe penalties, providers will be forced to delete doubtful statements as a precaution," said Bitkom manager Bernhard Rohleder.  “That would have a serious impact on free speech on the internet.” The bill still needs to be approved by parliament.