Facebook problems isn’t just limited to fake news in the United States as the social media service has gotten itself entangled with Germany’s hate speech law.
A report by The New York Times reveal that Facebook has managed to stir controversy in Germany once again when the social media service failed to respond to an anti-Jewish post shared online by a far-right group that listed the names and addresses of Jewish institutions and Israeli-owned businesses during the 78th anniversary of the Kristallnacht incident.
The report mentions that Facebook initially refused to remove the post as the company believes that the post complied with the company’s “community standards” for what it deems within the bounds of free speech. It was until a backlash on social media, local newspapers and German lawmakers did Facebook decide to delete both the post in question and the Facebook group responsible for it 48 hours later.
This incident isn’t the first time that Facebook has clashed with German law of course. Not too long ago, a German regulator blocked WhatsApp from sharing data from users in Germany with Facebook. The company was also involved in yet another hate speech incident as the Syrian Refugee Crisis had led to a sharp increase of hateful post published on Facebook.
German officials have since declared that they intend to step up regulation of Facebook if the company fails to abide by German laws. Heiko Mass, the German Justice Minister, has warned that he will propose legislation if Facebook cannot remove at least 70 percent of online hate speech within 24 hours by early next year. Whether or not Facebook would be able to (or want to) abide by Germany’s strict law remains to be seen.
Source: The New York Post