Germany Threatens to Sue Facebook Over Online Hate

Germany’s Minister Heiko Maas says the German government could take legal action against Facebook and other social media groups if they do not intensify their fight against illegal hate speech or Islamist “terror fantasies”.

Maas said Facebook, Twitter and Google are removing illegal content from the internet more frequently and quickly, but more work was needed.

He said the social media groups responded mostly to requests by government-funded organisations but did not take private complaints as seriously.

“Of the illegal content reported by users, Twitter deletes about one per cent, YouTube just 10 per cent, and Facebook about 46 per cent,” Maas said. Those rates were too low, he said.

Maas said he would decide on next steps after government study was completed in March, could not rule out legal measures. He did not elaborate.

“The situation has improved, but it’s not nearly good enough,” Maas said.

“We have to keep up the pressure on the companies.”

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