Germany Raids Homes of 36 People Accused of Hateful Postings Over Social Media
>Heiko Maas, the German justice minister, is endorsing a new social media law aimed at cracking down on hate speech, a measure that an array of experts has warned is unconstitutional.
>BERLIN — In a coordinated campaign across 14 states, the German police on Tuesday raided the homes of 36 people accused of hateful postings over social media, including threats, coercion and incitement to racism.
>Most of the raids concerned politically motivated right-wing incitement, according to the Federal Criminal Police Office, whose officers conducted home searches and interrogations. But the raids also targeted two people accused of left-wing extremist content, as well as one person accused of making threats or harassment based on someone’s sexual orientation.
>“The still high incidence of punishable hate posting shows a need for police action,” Holger Münch, president of the Federal Criminal Police Office, said in a statement. “Our free society must not allow a climate of fear, threat, criminal violence and violence either on the street or on the internet.”
>The raids come as Germans are debating the draft of a new social media law aimed at cracking down on hate speech, a measure that an array of experts said was unconstitutional at a parliamentary hearing on Monday.
>The measure, championed by Justice Minister Heiko Maas for passage this month,would fine Facebook, Twitterand other outlets up to $53 million (50 million euros) if they failed to remove hate speech and other forms of illegal content.
>Under German law, social media users are subject to a range of punishments for posting illegal material, including a prison sentence of up to five years for inciting racial hatred.
Hide your CPU German bros
