Elon, the legal consequences may be about to start hitting you while you do stupid stuff like change the Twitter symbol to the Dogecoin symbol. Germany is about to slap him silly:
In an early FAFO test for Elon Musk, Germany could be set to fine Twitter for repeatedly failing to comply with a social media hate speech takedowns law, aka the NetzDG, which requires swift removal of illegal content like hate speech.
The Federal Justice Office (BfJ) announced the move in a press release today — saying it’s instigated a proceeding under the country’s Network Enforcement Act (aka, NetzDG) after establishing there are “sufficient indications of failures” in the platform’s complaint management processes.
Under the NetzDG, social media platforms must response to user reports of illegal content, checking what’s been reported and removing content if it confirms it’s illegal, within seven days — or 24 hours for the most obviously illegal stuff. What’s illegal is governed by Germany’s criminal code, which includes hate speech, abuse and threats, and antisemitism.
“Numerous pieces of content was reported to the BfJ that was published on Twitter, which the authority considers illegal and, despite user complaints, was not deleted or blocked by the provider within the legally stipulated periods. The fine proceedings initiated are based on this,” the BfJ said in a statement (which we’ve translated from German with machine translation).
“In the case of individual violations by providers of social networks, of the inspection and deletion obligations in the NetzDG, it cannot generally be assumed that there is no effective procedure for dealing with complaints about illegal content. However, a systemic failure of complaint management is subject to fines, which occurs when violations of the relevant specifications of the NetzDG occur repeatedly in a timely manner and in a manner that is relevant to the subject.”
The Office said the content it’s acting against Twitter over is “closely related in terms of time and substance” — indicting a “systemic failure in the provider’s complaint management”. “They were published on Twitter over a period of around four months and reported to the provider of Twitter as illegal by users,” it added. “All content contains similar, unjustified, defamatory statements of opinion, all directed against the same person. According to the BfJ, they constitute an offence.”
On paper, Germany’s NetzDG law allows for fines up to €50 million for breaches of the regime.
My guess is that the Germans are going to make an example of Elon because they can. Not to mention that Elon isn’t even trying to deal with hate speech. In fact by all reports, it’s out of control on Twitter. So this is going to be a slam dunk for the Germans. And you have to wonder how Elon who is less Tony Stark and more Johnny Knoxville will handle this situation.
Place your bets now.
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This entry was posted on April 4, 2023 at 1:24 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Twitter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Elon Musk Is In Deep Trouble With Germany As Twitter Is About To Get Slapped For Not Taking Down Hate Speech
Elon, the legal consequences may be about to start hitting you while you do stupid stuff like change the Twitter symbol to the Dogecoin symbol. Germany is about to slap him silly:
In an early FAFO test for Elon Musk, Germany could be set to fine Twitter for repeatedly failing to comply with a social media hate speech takedowns law, aka the NetzDG, which requires swift removal of illegal content like hate speech.
The Federal Justice Office (BfJ) announced the move in a press release today — saying it’s instigated a proceeding under the country’s Network Enforcement Act (aka, NetzDG) after establishing there are “sufficient indications of failures” in the platform’s complaint management processes.
Under the NetzDG, social media platforms must response to user reports of illegal content, checking what’s been reported and removing content if it confirms it’s illegal, within seven days — or 24 hours for the most obviously illegal stuff. What’s illegal is governed by Germany’s criminal code, which includes hate speech, abuse and threats, and antisemitism.
“Numerous pieces of content was reported to the BfJ that was published on Twitter, which the authority considers illegal and, despite user complaints, was not deleted or blocked by the provider within the legally stipulated periods. The fine proceedings initiated are based on this,” the BfJ said in a statement (which we’ve translated from German with machine translation).
“In the case of individual violations by providers of social networks, of the inspection and deletion obligations in the NetzDG, it cannot generally be assumed that there is no effective procedure for dealing with complaints about illegal content. However, a systemic failure of complaint management is subject to fines, which occurs when violations of the relevant specifications of the NetzDG occur repeatedly in a timely manner and in a manner that is relevant to the subject.”
The Office said the content it’s acting against Twitter over is “closely related in terms of time and substance” — indicting a “systemic failure in the provider’s complaint management”. “They were published on Twitter over a period of around four months and reported to the provider of Twitter as illegal by users,” it added. “All content contains similar, unjustified, defamatory statements of opinion, all directed against the same person. According to the BfJ, they constitute an offence.”
On paper, Germany’s NetzDG law allows for fines up to €50 million for breaches of the regime.
My guess is that the Germans are going to make an example of Elon because they can. Not to mention that Elon isn’t even trying to deal with hate speech. In fact by all reports, it’s out of control on Twitter. So this is going to be a slam dunk for the Germans. And you have to wonder how Elon who is less Tony Stark and more Johnny Knoxville will handle this situation.
Place your bets now.
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This entry was posted on April 4, 2023 at 1:24 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Twitter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.