Germany slaps Facebook with hefty fine under hate speech law
by The Associated Press
Facebook did not meet transparency requirements for its handling of hate speech complaints
BERLIN – German authorities say they have issued Facebook with a 2 million-euro (US$2.3 million) fine under a law designed to combat hate speech.
The Federal Office for Justice said Tuesday that the social networking company had failed to meet transparency requirements for its handling of hate speech complaints.
The agency said Facebook’s report for the first half of 2018 didn’t reflect the actual number of complaints about suspected illegal content, which in Germany includes anti-Semitic insults and material designed to incite hatred against persons or groups based on their religion or ethnicity.
It said there was also incomplete information about the language skills and training of staff tasked with processing hate speech complaints.
Facebook didn’t immediately comment on the fine.
