Daily Management Review

Germany: Facebook Should Remove Racist Posts


08/27/2015


Minister of Justice of Germany Heiko Maas requires Facebook to delete racist posts about refugees after several attacks on a refugee camp in Germany.



© imago / Christian Thiel
© imago / Christian Thiel
- Facebook needs to urgently review its policy in relation to these records, he wrote in a letter from August 26, published to Facebook, according to Bloomberg News.

Many users have complained to the Ministry on the fact that Facebook has not removed xenophobic publications even after they have been reviewed and marked, as the comments allegedly did not violate the rights of the community. And Berlin did not like it.

It is unclear why the "pictures of certain body parts are automatically removed for ethical reasons, and racist and xenophobic statements are not", Maas says in his letter.

- There should be no tolerance towards false users who preach xenophobia and racism, - he said. Maas invited the representatives of Facebook at the ministry to discuss the situation on September 14.

Facebook said they took seriously the statement of the Minister and will readily come to the meeting.

- Facebook is not a place for racism - says a statement issued by APCO Worldwide. - This content is undoubtedly violates our rules, and we urge users not to use our platform to spread hatred.

In 2015, Germany is facing a possible arrival in the country of 800 thousand refugees who are fleeing from war and poverty, which is approximately equivalent to 1% of the population.

This is the biggest influx of refugees during the year since the end of World War II.

About 20 buildings, that have been converted into centers for the temporary accommodation of refugees, were burned up this year, including the recent arson attack, which occurred last week, when a building, which was planned to become a shelter for the refugees, was set on fire.

Disputes regarding the situation are going on the Internet, especially on Facebook, and other social networks, where users cannot always refrain from xenophobic and racist comments, calling the refugees "parasites".

Porsche has dismissed one of its employees, after he wrote a commentary, full of hatred, for a Facebook photo of a Syrian girl.

Governments around the world are putting pressure on companies such as Facebook, Twitter Inc. and Google Inc, asking them to deal with such statements in their platforms.

source: bloomberg.com