Germany’s Network Enforcement Act

In June 2017, the German lawmakers passed a controversial “Network Enforcement Act”, colloquially called “Facebook Law” under which Facebook, Twitter, and other social media companies could face fines of up to €50 million ($57 million) for failing to remove hate speech. This law mandates the social media websites / apps operating in Germany to remove / block all kinds of defamatory, racist or slanderous comments or posts within 24 hours of their being reported by users; failing to which would invite fine ranging from €5 million to €50 million. However, the websites have seven days to remove the content which seems to be offensive, but may not lead to defamation or incitement to violence. Further:

• The social network sites have also informed the complainant on how they handled the case.
• Companies will have to file public reports every six months on the number of complaints received, and how they have been addressed.
• Companies are also required to reveal the identity of the user accused of defamation or of violating other people’s privacy.
• All social networks with more than two million users will create a process for addressing complaints.
• Email and messenger providers, included in an earlier draft, have been excluded from the final law.
• The act provides the companies with an option of review by an independent third party; this process will be handled by Germany’s federal Justice Department.

Rationale behind the Law

German parliament is considered to be among the most aggressive western democracies. In recent years, Germany is facing serious problem of anti-racism marches and anti-immigration activists. With more than one-third of German population active on internet, it poses serious threat to government if it is unable to control the racists and slanderous material floating unchecked on internet. The German government has forewarned the social networking companies about the possible consequences if they failed to maintain decorum on the internet and abide by the rules of internet in Germany. To further strengthen its case, the government has enacted this law. The law is expected to come in force in October.

What has been the reaction to this law?

The act has once again triggered the debate over the definition of “freedom of expression on the Internet”. On one hand while several organisations representing digital companies, journalists, and advocates of free speech and expression have condemned the enforcement of Network Enforcement Act. On the other hand, the Central Council of Jews in Germany supported the move by the German government and said that the law is logical and a stepping stone to tackle the menace of hate speech and public incitement on internet in the country.

Is there any similar law existing in India? If yes, how is it different from that of German Law?

We also suffer from problems like hate speeches; public incitement through posts on social networking sites. To curb this menace, the IT Act, 2000 was amended to introduce Section 66A, which made it criminal offence to share content in any form like text, audio, video, pictures, etc. that was offensive in nature. Under the law, if convicted, a person was liable to be punished with up to three years in jail and a fine.

But like many others, this law also was not implemented effectively. It was very difficult to differentiate whether content posted by a person is abusive and offensive enough to punish the person. So a conflict arose between this law and the Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution {right to freedom of speech and expression}. The law was used at times to harass the innocents. In 2015, the  Supreme Court declared this section to be unconstitutional and thus it was laid to rest in peace.

However, in order to provide authorities with some powers to deal with the problem, the SC upheld Section 69A of the IT Act, which provides law enforcement agencies with power to issue directions for blocking the public access of any information on internet, if the authorities feel that the information is of slanderous nature. Thus, we see that though Indian government took certain measures to curb the menace, yet the steps were not in line with the current requirements. The Section 66A of the IT Act put the complete onus on the individual for hatred speeches and posts and had no law to scrutinise and regulate the social networking sites as the recent law in Germany now does.

What steps have been taken by the social networks to address the problem?

As per Facebook, it has already employed 4,500 people to monitor the malicious content posted on the sites. The organisation has also announced deployment of extra 3,000 workers around the world over the next year for the refinement work.

Twitter has also made a number of changes, including addition of new filtering options, and expunging the accounts of users those involved in the abusive acts. YouTube has already removed most of the flagged content after being notified.

Comment

In modern world, the social media is a subject of high importance. The social networking sites function as non-state actors and have potential enough to stimulate the dynamics of elections in a country. Since federal elections are to be held in Germany in September, 2017, therefore, such crucial step by the German government is justified. As far as India is concerned, the country has nearly 241 million active Facebook users and 23 million Twitter users. This makes quick filtering of data a difficult process in India. So, it won’t be a good idea for the Indian government to come up with law similar to that of German government. However, the German government’s decision is well appreciated by most of the countries and can be regarded as the first major censored step against the social networking companies.