<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"></div><div>Interesting what is happening in Europe. FB has just been fined in Germany for failure to comply with transparency requirements.</div><div>————————————-</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><div><div class="gmail_default"><b data-removefontsize="true" data-originalcomputedfontsize="16" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Germany fines Facebook €2 million for violating hate speech law</b></div></div><div class="gmail_quote"><div data-removefontsize="true" data-originalcomputedfontsize="16"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br>-- By Janosch Delcker<br>7/2/19, 3:47 PM CET | <a href="https://politico.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e26c1a1c392386a968d02fdbc&id=3272941e68&e=bee27744e4" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://politico.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3De26c1a1c392386a968d02fdbc%26id%3D3272941e68%26e%3Dbee27744e4&source=gmail&ust=1562162548571000&usg=AFQjCNE_zaVoJjPJGjw6XA4DrW6NtVJyhg" data-removefontsize="true" data-originalcomputedfontsize="16">View in your browser</a><br></span><p data-removefontsize="true" data-originalcomputedfontsize="16"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">BERLIN — Germany has fined U.S. tech giant Facebook for violating the country’s law to combat hate speech online, officials said today.</span></p><p data-removefontsize="true" data-originalcomputedfontsize="16"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Federal Office for Justice (BfJ,) a subdivision of the German justice ministry, <a href="https://politico.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e26c1a1c392386a968d02fdbc&id=0f82fbf3cd&e=bee27744e4" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://politico.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3De26c1a1c392386a968d02fdbc%26id%3D0f82fbf3cd%26e%3Dbee27744e4&source=gmail&ust=1562162548572000&usg=AFQjCNFAWNQ-4gBn019R9tx8xKBTRVTwGw" data-removefontsize="true" data-originalcomputedfontsize="16">announced</a> that it had issued Facebook a fine of €2 million for failing to meet the requirements of Berlin’s Network Enforcement Act, a law against illegal content, in its <a href="https://politico.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e26c1a1c392386a968d02fdbc&id=5edc76d5f1&e=bee27744e4" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://politico.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3De26c1a1c392386a968d02fdbc%26id%3D5edc76d5f1%26e%3Dbee27744e4&source=gmail&ust=1562162548572000&usg=AFQjCNG-bIcILe_aZXUndQkNBcOB-iQzJA" data-removefontsize="true" data-originalcomputedfontsize="16">transparency report for the first half of 2018</a>.</span></p><p data-removefontsize="true" data-originalcomputedfontsize="16"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The fine is a small amount compared to Facebook’s <a href="https://politico.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e26c1a1c392386a968d02fdbc&id=ba4f878a70&e=bee27744e4" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://politico.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3De26c1a1c392386a968d02fdbc%26id%3Dba4f878a70%26e%3Dbee27744e4&source=gmail&ust=1562162548572000&usg=AFQjCNH8CjNp7RmWr3UbuHuBUBWhxGSaZg" data-removefontsize="true" data-originalcomputedfontsize="16">first-quarter revenues</a> of more than $15 billion. But it has symbolic weight, marking the first time that a European country has sanctioned an American social media giant for failing to be transparent about the way it handles hate speech.</span></p><p data-removefontsize="true" data-originalcomputedfontsize="16"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“In the penalty charge notice, the BfJ reprimands in particular that in the released report, the number of received complaints about unlawful content is incomplete,” the office said in its announcement, adding that this “is creating a distorted image in the public about the extent of unlawful content [on the platform] and the way the social network is dealing with it.”</span></p><p data-removefontsize="true" data-originalcomputedfontsize="16"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Facebook can still lodge an appeal to the fine, the BfJ said.</span></p><p data-removefontsize="true" data-originalcomputedfontsize="16"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Under the law, which is known as NetzDG and took effect on January 1, 2018, companies are required to publish a report twice a year in German regarding complaints they have received.</span></p><p data-removefontsize="true" data-originalcomputedfontsize="16"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The law is considered <a href="https://politico.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e26c1a1c392386a968d02fdbc&id=3b050395dd&e=bee27744e4" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://politico.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3De26c1a1c392386a968d02fdbc%26id%3D3b050395dd%26e%3Dbee27744e4&source=gmail&ust=1562162548572000&usg=AFQjCNGCPEmHyCzTKTRK-9D4actMVgTC0w" data-removefontsize="true" data-originalcomputedfontsize="16">the most far-reaching effort by a Western democracy</a> to control what appears on social media, demanding that social media giants promptly remove potentially illegal material or face fines of up to €50 million.</span></p><p data-removefontsize="true" data-originalcomputedfontsize="16"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Digital platforms have a clear responsibility for the content that is posted on their sites,” Germany’s new Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht said in a written statement released shortly after the fine was announced.</span></p><p data-removefontsize="true" data-originalcomputedfontsize="16"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“What has to be clear is that Facebook’s so-called ‘community standards’ are not above German law.”</span></p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br>Related stories on these topics: <a href="https://politico.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e26c1a1c392386a968d02fdbc&id=23a0860b22&e=bee27744e4" target="_blank" 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