The Network Enforcement Act is currently being hotly debated. But what is this law actually about and when does it apply?
Admittedly, the Network Enforcement Act is a real tongue twister, luckily there is an abbreviation that at least makes it easier to pronounce: NetzDG.
As the German Bundestag , Finance and the Frankfurter Allgemeine report, the NetzDG is entering a new phase.
What is it actually about?
In the fight against fake news, hate speech and hate speech online, new guidelines were needed to deal with the flood of negative posts on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Co.
The aim is to encourage internet companies to take tougher action against such posts.
According to jugendschutz.net, for example, Facebook only deleted 39 percent of the reported criminal content in the test period from July 2016 to February 2017, while Twitter only deleted one percent.
So what is the NetzDG?
The Network Enforcement Act was proposed by Federal Justice Minister Heiko Maas (SPD). This provides for high penalties if problematic content is not deleted promptly.
The law was passed on September 1, 2017 and is scheduled to come into force with a transition period from October 1, 2017 to January 1, 2018.
It refers to commercial social networks on the Internet with at least 2 million members. Smaller journalistic and editorially designed offers should not be included.
The affected online platforms must set up the procedure for dealing with complaints of illegal content in a transparent manner and are obliged to document everything precisely.
If complaints about content are submitted, they must be examined immediately. If these complaints contain “obviously illegal” content, it must be deleted within 24 hours. If the content is more difficult to evaluate, you have up to 7 days to review it before deletion.
The transition period still applies, but from the beginning of 2018, violations of the NetzDG could result in fines of up to 50 million euros.
Criticism of the NetzDG
Of course, not everyone likes that.
Facebook published a detailed statement on the law at the beginning of summer.
The company argued that the draft was unconstitutional and could restrict freedom of expression. They then used artificial intelligence to debunk hate posts.
Nevertheless, the NetzDG has now been enacted and social networks will have to adhere very carefully to the deletion periods in the future in order not to end up in court themselves.
Further information:
Statement from the Bundestag
Tagesschau
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