The challenge
Illegal hate speech and defamation spread on social media while platforms acted slowly on complaints.
The case
Germany's Network Enforcement Act took full effect in January 2018. It required social networks with over two million German users to remove 'manifestly unlawful' content within 24 hours of a complaint, run complaint systems and publish twice-yearly transparency reports, with fines of up to €50 million. The first reports showed platforms rejected most complaints; Twitter acted on only about 11% in early 2018. In July 2019 the Federal Office of Justice fined Facebook €2 million for under-reporting, after its report listed just 886 complaints, against hundreds of thousands at Twitter and YouTube. The government's evaluation found no evidence of systematic over-blocking, but an independent 2021 study found signs of it, and the reports were too coarse to settle the question.
Why the results were mixed
Deadlines and fines forced platforms to set up complaint systems, but leaving legal judgments to companies and relying on self-reported data made it hard to tell whether the law reduced harm or chilled lawful speech.
Sources
- Gollatz, K., Riedl, M. J. & Pohlmann, J. (2018). Germany: Removal of online hate speech in numbers. Inforrm's Blog.
- Heldt, A. (2019). Reading between the lines and the numbers: an analysis of the first NetzDG reports. Internet Policy Review, 8(2).
- Library of Congress (2019). Germany: Facebook found in violation of 'anti-fake news' law. Global Legal Monitor.
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