Almost a year ago we reported that Facebook has been acting on threats from the German government to censor posts about 'migrants' or else face penalties. Now Germany has taken another step, saying that if Facebook does not start censoring 'hate speech posts' made by Americans, they will fine Facebook 55 thousand dollars for each post:
"The time for round-tables is over. I've run out of patience," said Volker Kauder, chairman of the Christian Democratic Union's parliamentary group.
Facebook and Twitter have seen a rise in anti-migrant commentary in Europe's biggest economy, as public misgivings grow in some corners over the almost 900,000 asylum seekers who arrived last year.
The government has pushed the US online networks to take swift action to combat hate speech.
Despite a pledge in December last year by Facebook, Twitter and Google to examine and remove offensive posts in Germany within 24 hours, users have reported that their requests to take down hate speech have often hit a wall.
Kauder said that if the companies fail to remove offensive posts within a week after they have been reported, then they should be penalised, with a suggested fine of 50,000 euros ($55,000) per post.
In an interview last week, Justice Minister Maas noted that the online giants had taken action only in a minority of cases.
Out of the cases reported to Twitter in Germany, only one percent was erased, he said, while for Facebook, the proportion was 46 percent. "If the companies refuse to meet their responsibility, then there will be
consequences," Maas told business daily Handelsblatt....
A first step would be to require them to offer more transparency on how they are dealing with the issue, by publishing annually how many illegal hate commentaries have been reported and how many have been dealt with, he said.
"If criminal content is not swiftly deleted, then we need to consider how to make Facebook and Twitter liable," he said, adding that "this Damocles sword hangs over them".
"They now have time to prove themselves before we impose a legal requirement," he warned. (source)
The fact that Germany would use the analogy of Damocles' sword is very disturbing.
As we have written before, Damocles' sword comes from the 4th century BC when Dionysius II, tyrant of Sicily gave a courtesian names Damocles his throne on the condition that a sword be suspended over his head held back by nothing more than a thread. Eventually, Damocles relinquished control back to Dionysius having learned his lesson, that with great power comes great responsibility. However, what Germany is doing is far more sinister.
As we have been writing, Germany is returning to her old ways, and part of that means attempting to absolutely assert herself over all others to the point of using lethal force to make other peoples, even those having no connection to her, to obey her demands. However, at the same time, it also works to her favor, for as we have pointed out, by coming down so hard against any criticism of Islam and Muslims, and given the disposition of the German people, it will naturally cause a counter reaction in time that will be used in an attempt to usher in a new and terrible world order. Either way, those in charge are attempting to set up a situation so that no matter what happens, they will come out with still more power than before.
Mark my words, it does not matter if you live in America or Germany. Facebook is a multinational corporation who, like all companies, only cares about money. Dollar, Euro, Ruble or Dinar, it does not matter- they only care about profit for the owners, and principle will be disposed with so long as it keeps them making a profit. Facebook is notorious for this, as not only are there many stories which talk about this, but we at Shoebat.com have long been the target of harassment from Facebook censors for our content.
We and many others are living on borrowed time here on Facebook. Be watchful, because if one day we are not to be found there any more, it is not that we have stopped writing, but that our content has become absolutely censored.
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