Germany has reached agreements with Google, Facebook and Twitter for the removal of hate speech from the websites within a timeframe of 24 hours, which is the newest step in the ongoing fight to eliminate the rising racism sentiments online amid the refugee crisis.
The government of the European country has been attempting to get the online giants to focus on cracking down on the increase of German anti-foreigner posts on the Internet, as Germany is struggling to handle the wave of one million refugees that entered its borders this year.
Germany's agreements with Google, Facebook and Twitter will make it simpler for users of the websites and anti-racism group members to send in reports on any hate speech they find online to special teams formed for the purpose by the three Internet companies, said Heiko Maas the German Justice Minister.
"When the limits of free speech are trespassed, when it is about criminal expressions, sedition, incitement to carry out criminal offences that threaten people, such content has to be deleted from the net," said Maas, adding that the removal should be done within 24 hours.
Any complaints received will undergo an examination by the special teams of the three companies, which will be deciding whether the content of the alleged hate speech violates the terms of use for each website and the laws of Germany, which bans speech that instigates or incites harmful action.
Certain portions of the process of the initiative remains unclear, however, as there is no indication on who will make the final decision on which content to remove and which to keep. In addition, it is also undetermined whether there will be an appeal process involved, and whether content removed online in Germany can still be viewed by users that are outside of the country.
Facebook, perhaps moreso than Google and Twitter, is under fire for not being able to filter out hate-filled racist content from the social network. This is the alleged cause for the vandalism that the Facebook headquarters in Hamburg suffered through, when over a dozen people threw smoke bombs, rocks and paint at the structure. The phrase "Facebook Dislike" was also painted on the wall of the building.
