Angela Merkel (center) in an activity.
Germany is aggressively fighting hate speech and false news by threatening social media giant companies with a fine of 50 million euros (Rp7 trillion) if they fail to remove offensive posts in medsos. According to German law anyone who denounces the holocaust, inciting hatred and racist speech is against the law.
Chancellor Angela Merkel took firm steps after assessing companies such as Twitter and Facebook did not want to do in removing content that violates German law.
"A crime of hatred that is not effectively fought and imprisoned, reserves great harm to peaceful cohesion in a free, open and democratic society," Merkel's government said.
Since the arrival of about a million asylum seekers to Germany starting 2015, the volumes of hatred xenophobic speech have been booming online.
Disturbed by inciting posts, the German government has repeatedly warned internet giants to better keep tabs on content on their networks.
They have already promised in 2015 to remove hateful comments within 24 hours, but Justice Minister Heiko Maas says their move is not enough.
Citing the results of government research, Maas said Twitter only remove one percent of problematic content from users, while up 30 percent. The YouTube video sharing platform is much better, as 90 percent removes hate and content contents.
The German government is also targeting illegal content such as child pornography and terrorism.
Internet companies are given 24 hours to remove posts that openly violate German law after the content is flagged by its users.
Other offensive content will be deleted within seven days after being reported to violate the rules. If they do not follow this rule the executives of social media companies will be fined five million euros.
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