Germany Raids Homes of 36 People Accused of Hateful Postings Over Social Media
" The raids come as Germans are debating the draft of a new social media law aimed at cracking down on hate speech, a measure
that an array of experts said was unconstitutional at a parliamentary hearing on Monday. that Our free society must not allow a climate of fear, threat, criminal violence and violence either on the street or on the internet.
Mr. Maas testified that We have clear rules against hate speech and work hard to keep it off our platform.
The measure, championed by Justice Minister Heiko Maas for passage this month, would fine Facebook, Twitter
and other outlets up to $53 million (50 million euros) if they failed to remove hate speech and other forms of illegal content.
" Holger Münch, president of the Federal Criminal Police Office, said in a statement.
that The still high incidence of punishable hate posting shows a need for police action,
By DAVID SHIMERJUNE 20, 2017
In a coordinated campaign across 14 states, the German police on Tuesday raided the homes of 36 people
accused of hateful postings over social media, including threats, coercion and incitement to racism.
Christian Mihr, another panelist and managing director of Reporters Without Borders, said the law would
unwisely transfer authority from Germany’s justice system to companies like Facebook and Twitter.