https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Germany in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed German police carried out raids across the country Thursday as part of investigations against 40 people accused of online hate speech against a pro-refugee politician who was murdered by a suspected neo-Nazi in 2019. https://www.thelocal.de/20200604/german-police-carry-out-raids-over-online-hate-speech Thu, 04 Jun 2020 15:06:10 +0200 german-police-carry-out-raids-over-online-hate-speech With growing dangers from far-right extremist groups and torrents of threats against politicians, Germany is set to toughen online speech laws and tighten the screws on social networks. https://www.thelocal.de/20200219/germany-to-crack-down-on-online-hate-speech Wed, 19 Feb 2020 09:53:25 +0100 germany-to-crack-down-on-online-hate-speech The German government on Wednesday approved a draft law to crack down on the far right, three weeks after a deadly attack by an alleged neo-Nazi targeting a synagogue. https://www.thelocal.de/20191030/germany-to-tighten-hate-speech-and-gun-laws-to-fight-far-right Wed, 30 Oct 2019 15:33:33 +0100 germany-to-tighten-hate-speech-and-gun-laws-to-fight-far-right A German court on Tuesday fined Facebook two million euros for not being transparent enough over the action it is taking to curb online hate speech. https://www.thelocal.de/20190702/german-court-fines-facebook-over-hate-speech-combat-failings Tue, 02 Jul 2019 17:46:16 +0200 german-court-fines-facebook-over-hate-speech-combat-failings Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday said Germany must resist neo-Nazis 'without any taboos' following the killing of a local politician by a suspected right-wing extremist. https://www.thelocal.de/20190624/germany-must-resist-neo-nazis-from-the-outset-merkel Mon, 24 Jun 2019 10:40:21 +0200 germany-must-resist-neo-nazis-from-the-outset-merkel Half a year ago, a controversial new German law came into force with the aim of combating hate speech on social media. On Friday, Youtube and Facebook published first figures on how often it has been used. https://www.thelocal.de/20180727/facebook-and-youtube-publish-figures-on-hate-speech-law Fri, 27 Jul 2018 12:00:43 +0200 facebook-and-youtube-publish-figures-on-hate-speech-law German prosecutors said on Monday they were dropping a case into whether Facebook bosses including Mark Zuckerberg were condoning hate speech online. https://www.thelocal.de/20180227/prosecutors-drop-case-against-facebook Tue, 27 Feb 2018 09:45:51 +0100 prosecutors-drop-case-against-facebook The head of a far-right organization in the western town of Bielefeld was sentenced to half a year in prison on Thursday for calling someone a “cheeky Jewish functionary.” https://www.thelocal.de/20180223/bielefeld-man-given-six-month-jail-term-for-cheeky-jewish-functionary-slur Fri, 23 Feb 2018 17:07:48 +0100 bielefeld-man-given-six-month-jail-term-for-cheeky-jewish-functionary-slur Social media giant Facebook said on Wednesday that a second centre in Germany committed to deleting hateful or violent content will be set up in Essen by fall. https://www.thelocal.de/20170809/facebook-to-hire-500-employees-in-essen-to-combat-hate-speech-socialmedia Wed, 09 Aug 2017 18:56:24 +0200 facebook-to-hire-500-employees-in-essen-to-combat-hate-speech-socialmedia A Berlin artist is drumming up debate about hate speech and censorship by spray-painting offensive tweets outside the doors of Twitter’s German headquarters. https://www.thelocal.de/20170808/twitter-wouldnt-delete-hateful-tweets-so-this-artist-painted-them-outside-its-office Tue, 08 Aug 2017 19:26:05 +0200 twitter-wouldnt-delete-hateful-tweets-so-this-artist-painted-them-outside-its-office For the first time, Facebook opened up its Berlin centre for deleting hateful or violent content, providing journalists with a glimpse into the workers' everyday dealings with decapitation videos, racist propaganda and child pornography. https://www.thelocal.de/20170711/the-first-beheading-video-made-me-weep-a-day-in-the-life-of-facebook-moderators Tue, 11 Jul 2017 16:35:13 +0200 the-first-beheading-video-made-me-weep-a-day-in-the-life-of-facebook-moderators Germany's parliament voted Friday to punish social media giants with fines of up to €50 million if they systematically fail to remove illegal hate speech. https://www.thelocal.de/20170630/germany-imposes Fri, 30 Jun 2017 14:12:14 +0200 germany-imposes A proposed German law designed to heavily penalize social media firms for 'hate speech' will scare Facebook and other social media giants into suppressing content that is legal, argues Nick Wallace. https://www.thelocal.de/20170609/how-the-german-hate-speech-law-will-put-control-of-free-speech-in-private-hands Fri, 09 Jun 2017 16:05:58 +0200 how-the-german-hate-speech-law-will-put-control-of-free-speech-in-private-hands Facebook is fighting back against a proposed law that would force social networks to remove hateful content more quickly. https://www.thelocal.de/20170529/facebook-condemns-germanys-so-called-hate-speech-law Mon, 29 May 2017 11:55:45 +0200 facebook-condemns-germanys-so-called-hate-speech-law Members of the right-wing Identitarian movement attempted to storm the German justice ministry in Berlin on Friday over a proposed law to fight hate speech on social media. https://www.thelocal.de/20170519/right-wing-identitarian-protesters-try-to-storm-justice-ministry-over-hate-speech-law Fri, 19 May 2017 18:44:40 +0200 right-wing-identitarian-protesters-try-to-storm-justice-ministry-over-hate-speech-law The German government on Wednesday approved fines of up to €50 million against online giants that fail to remove hate speech and fake news reported by users within a week. https://www.thelocal.de/20170405/germany-to-fine-social-media-giants-up-to-50-million-for-hate-speech Wed, 05 Apr 2017 14:09:09 +0200 germany-to-fine-social-media-giants-up-to-50-million-for-hate-speech The Justice Minister proposed a law on Tuesday that could see social networks such as Facebook slapped with heavy fines if they fail to wipe illegal hate speech from their sites. https://www.thelocal.de/20170314/proposed-law-would-fine-facebook-up-to-50-million-for-hate-speech Tue, 14 Mar 2017 15:13:28 +0100 proposed-law-would-fine-facebook-up-to-50-million-for-hate-speech Sixty percent of Germans think internet users should be forced to use their real name when leaving comments - but the response varies dramatically between different age groups. https://www.thelocal.de/20160721/majority-of-germans-want-real-names-to-be-compulsory-on-the-internet Thu, 21 Jul 2016 18:03:29 +0200 majority-of-germans-want-real-names-to-be-compulsory-on-the-internet Authorities have conducted the first ever nationwide raids on people suspected of spreading hate speech on the internet. https://www.thelocal.de/20160713/german-police-launch-first-nationwide-hate-speech-raids Wed, 13 Jul 2016 14:10:47 +0200 german-police-launch-first-nationwide-hate-speech-raids People throwing around words like “vermin” or advocating the return of the gas chambers in online comments face high fines in Germany – as one German publication made very clear on Tuesday. https://www.thelocal.de/20160518/fines-for-online-hate-speech-can-run-into-1000s Wed, 18 May 2016 14:35:34 +0200 fines-for-online-hate-speech-can-run-into-1000s