Die Presse, July 20, 2020
German original: https://www.diepresse.com/5842140/hass-im-netz-strafen-fur-internet-plattformen
A law to enforce individual rights on social media networks is under development. Internet platforms will have to pay fines in case of noncompliance.
The federal government’s task force, with the objective to get a grip on “hatred on the web,” met for the first time on Monday. One focal point of the measures: social media companies should be held more responsible than in the past. “We want to force Internet platforms like Facebook or Twitter to introduce an efficient complaints procedure,” said Federal Minister for the EU and the Constitution Karoline Edtstadler (OVP) in a conversation with Die Presse.
First: “there will be no real name requirement on the Internet. This is also not mentioned in the government program” (there has recently been some confusion about this issue). To be more precise: there will also be no requirement to use - verifiable - personal data to register for online fora.
But how will writers of degrading or discriminatory comments be identified? This issue has not been completely clarified within the task force. It probably will be possible via the IP – address. Besides Edstadler, Federal Minister for Integration and Women Susanne Raab (OVP) and Federal Minister for Justice Alma Zadić (Greens) have dedicated themselves to the fight against “hatred on the web.”
What is clear: in the future, platforms should face fines; those should be due if the platforms fail to apply a (yet to be developed) complaints procedure. Whoever has to read insulting, threatening, racist or also sexist content about themselves should have a defined point of contact at Facebook, etc. The deletion of texts should then (have to) occur within a short time frame, for example within 24 hours.
Also if the platforms formally accept a complaint but do nothing about it, fines should be the result. For example, if the company does not delete certain messages. Edtstadler: “If, for example, Facebook does not apply this procedure, which has to have a clear point of contact, a fine will be payable.”
In Germany, fines up to five million Euro are currently possible. In relation to population size, Edtstadler can envision fines for gross or repeated violations of up to 500,000 Euro. And: “I want to legally equate the digital and analog worlds.”
Supervisory Authority to be Established
The existence of a legal framework for Internet platforms also causes pressure from society should businesses be in default or refuse to play by the rules. In addition, the establishment of a supervisory authority geared towards undesirable virtual developments is planned in Austria. It would perform a permanent monitoring.
The critique of these developments seems obvious: free speech could be endangered. In fear of penalties, companies could remove more content than necessary (overblocking). Edtstadler: “We don’t want censorship. On the contrary, we want to protect Article 10 of the Human Rights Convention, the right to freedom of speech.”
But at this point, the secretary general of the Internet Service Providers Austria (Ispa), Maximilian Schubert, butts in: “There exists a good reason why protection of basic rights is designed so elaborately and courts of law often have to weigh complex considerations. At the end of the day, this is about prevention of censorship.” It is wrong to leave the decision what content may or may not be published to the businesses.
Indeed, there exist many nuances, for example in the case of satirical content, that would be up for discussion. Schubert: In difficult cases it has to be possible to wait for court decision.”
Thomas Lohninger, from the organization epicenter.works, specializing in internet politics, has a similar point of view. He asks rhetorically: “Do we want to keep the rule of law or should the platforms become judges?”