short message service
Process against Twitter for handling insults
Fine proceedings were initiated against Twitter in Germany. photo
© Fabian Sommer/dpa
In Germany, online platforms have obligations in dealing with complaints about potentially illegal content. Proceedings against Twitter have now been initiated for “failure in complaint management”.
A procedure has been initiated against Twitter in Germany for dealing with complaints about insults. According to the announcement, the Federal Office of Justice is checking whether there is a “systemic failure in complaint management” in the online service. The authority can impose a fine if the district court in Bonn determines that the content being denounced is illegal.
The Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG) imposes obligations on online platforms in Germany when dealing with complaints about potentially illegal content. Among other things, they must quickly check whether something is to be classified as illegal according to the NetzDG. An illegal post should be deleted within seven days at the latest. The Federal Office of Justice is responsible for this.
Multiple illegal content
The authority announced that it had been notified of a large amount of content that it believed to be illegal – and that, despite user complaints, it had not been deleted or blocked within the statutory periods. The fine proceedings are specifically about posts that were published on Twitter over a period of around four months. “All content contains similar, unjustified defamatory expressions of opinion, all of which are directed against the same person,” wrote the Federal Office. According to the authorities, they constitute an offense.
After the takeover of Twitter by tech billionaire Elon Musk last October, around half of the short message service’s 7,000 employees were laid off. According to media reports, the teams that deal with controversial content were also badly affected. Musk had criticized that Twitter used to restrict freedom of speech too much and also emphasized that software should check the posts instead of people. At the same time, he had assured that Twitter would comply with the relevant laws in all countries.
There was initially no reaction from Twitter to the investigation. A request to the e-mail address of the Twitter press department returned only a pile of faeces emoji. Musk had dissolved the press office.