Technology

Facebook Deletes Hundreds Of ‘Hate Speech’ Posts In Germany

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Facebook deleted various “hate speech” posts under a German law banning offensive content online, or risked facing a multi-million dollar fine if it failed to comply.

The social media giant received 1,704 complaints and it removed 262 posts between January and June, Facebook’s vice president for global policy solutions, Richard Allan, Reuters reported Friday.

Under Germany’s law, which went into effect in January, Germany could have fined Facebook 50 million euros ($58 million). Facebook currently has a team of 65 staff reviewing complaints under Germany’s law, called the NetzDG.

“Hate speech is not allowed on Facebook,” Allan said. “We have taken a very careful look at the German law.”

“That’s why we are convinced that the overwhelming majority of content considered hate speech in Germany, would be removed if it were examined to see whether it violates our community standards,” Allan added.

In the highly publicized congressional hearing in April wherein Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with lawmakers to answer questions ranging from user data abuse to censorship, Zuckerberg said he wanted to ban “hate speech” from the site, while struggling to define “hate speech.”

Facebook has been cracking down on spam and and fake accounts. As The Daily Caller News Foundation previously reported in May, Facebook removed 837 million examples of “spam” in the first quarter of 2018. The company also removed 583 million fake accounts, “most of which were disabled within minutes of registration.”

Facebook removed 2.5 million pieces of content in the first quarter of 2018, 38 percent of which was flagged by its technology and much of which was considered “hate speech.”

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