Germany: Top court starts deciding whether Facebook may delete 'hate speech' posts

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Germany’s Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe started hearing a case where it should decide whether Facebook may continue to delete posts and block accounts based on violations of its ‘community standards,’ Thursday.

The court is hearing the case on two Facebook users who took the social media giant to court after some of their comments were banned for ‘hate speech’ and their accounts were temporarily blocked.

Both users posted anti-migrant posts in 2018, and both cases involve comments that do not constitute a criminal offence under German law, but do violate Facebook’s terms of use.

“Private parties, not just Facebook, are now deciding what is still legal in our country, what is not legal. The protection of freedom of opinion should be set by the law and not by some private party, who thinks they can and should regulate this according to their own specifications,” the lawyer of both users said.

“Today’s hearing was about the question of the extent to which Facebook can delete individual users’ posts and also block the user for a period of time,” Dietlind Weinland, spokesperson of Federal Court of Justice, said, adding that “will probably take a few more weeks” for a landmark decision should be reached.

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SOT, Dietlind Weinland, Spokesperson of Federal Court of Justice (German): “Today’s hearing was about the question of the extent to which Facebook can delete individual users’ posts and also block the user for a period of time. The Senate has not yet made a decision, it has studied the problems. It has pointed out that there is needed an assessment between the fundamental rights of a user, the user who can exercise freedom of speech, on the one hand, and on the other hand, Facebook, who can invoke its freedom of occupation. The Senate will now have to weigh in the arguments and if it has come to a conclusion, then it will then announce its verdict. This will probably take a few more weeks.”

SOT, Herbert Geisler, Lawyer (German): “As it goes here about a serious offence against the freedom of speech, which is protected by the Constitution. So it goes about a third party that regulates what you are allowed to say, what you are not allowed to say, how you are allowed to express yourself, and it cannot be protected by our legal system.”

SOT, Herbert Geisler, Lawyer (German): “So private parties, not just Facebook, are now deciding what is still legal in our country, what is not legal. The protection of freedom of opinion should be set by the law and not by some private party, who thinks they can and should regulate this according to their own specifications.”

#Germany #Karlsruhe #Facebook

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