Our users repeatedly write us calls for help like these:
“I have already reported two different 'violent videos' to Facebook twice.
One of them showed a girl being punched and kicked in the face by several people. In the 2nd a little baby was hit with a hand & pillow. I have reported these videos multiple times. Facebook doesn't see this as a 'threat of violence or drastic violence'. I don't think this sort of thing belongs on Facebook. Do you have any ideas on how to successfully report such videos and have them removed?”
Using the example of the pregnant woman who threw her cats from the 9th floor , we asked the question: Who has to bear responsibility if the (still unborn) child is later bullied, abused and treated as a child in kindergarten, school and friends is portrayed as the “cat murderer”?
The mother? The users who shared or liked the post? Or Facebook?
On quite a few sites, people use Facebook to search for real and alleged “evil perpetrators” and call for violence and even lynching.
And here, Facebook, there is a need for action!
Many of the posts shared and in the comments on them refer to criminal offenses - in the worst case, serious bodily harm and murder! – called, so that in some cases the call itself is punishable.
Some examples:
“The chick should be slowly tortured to death, cut open nice and slow.”
“Our German justice system is ridiculous. Vigilante justice is appropriate for something like this.”
The lawyer Thomas Stadler gives a brief assessment of such statements in his blog :
“The offense of publicly inciting criminal offenses (§ 111 StGB) stipulates that anyone who calls for an act is treated as an instigator” [and thus as a perpetrator! – editor] “punishment is to be made if the request actually results in a corresponding act. So, for example, anyone who incites murder will face a life sentence if the murder is committed.”
However, according to the Telemedia Act Facebook be liable if it does not delete criminal posts and comments that it knows about!
BUT: By accepting Facebook's terms of use, each user has not only agreed Facebook harmless from costs and damages caused by them, but also to continue liable for possible legal violations .
The lawyer Thomas Schwenke explained this in great detail > here <.
Some users have reacted and point this out on their fan pages or in their groups with so-called disclaimers :
“From now on, comments that violate applicable law, incite violence, insult, etc. will be deleted.”
A very laudable declaration of intent - however, we also observe that such a statement is sometimes only presented along the lines of:
“As the site operator, I didn’t know anything that wasn’t deleted!”
Because of this and because many – probably younger – users are either unaware or indifferent to the terms of use and their legal meaning, Facebook continues to be flooded with hate campaigns and violence.
Facebook itself only relatively rarely intervenes in what is happening on its network, even when users report questionable posts there. This is based solely on internal guidelines, the contents of which became known through a leak in 2012 .
There are currently around 27.38 million Facebook users in Germany alone, of which almost 12 percent, i.e. 3.28 million, are younger than 18 years old. (Source: statista.com )
We therefore think:
Anyone who, like Facebook, offers a network for younger people also has a social responsibility in addition to the legal one.
It is clear that the effort required to subject every post and comment to a legal review is too great and that users do not want total surveillance.
However, Facebook must investigate reported posts that call for hate speech and violence with rigor and consistency!
Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )