Germany Threatens Social Media Companies with Massive ‘Hate Speech’ Fines
VOA News
April 05, 2017 2:55 PM (source)
Germany Threatens Social Media Companies with Massive ‘Hate Speech’ Fines
社群網站「仇恨語言」：德國揚言重罰
April 05, 2017 2:55 PM
VOA News
Germany has threatened to slap social media companies with huge fines if they do not act quickly enough to remove "hate speech" from their websites.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet on Wednesday approved a measure that would fine websites like Facebook and Twitter up to million if they do not do enough to censor comments that violate German speech law.
"Hate crimes that are not effectively combatted and prosecuted pose a great danger to the peaceful cohesion of a free, open and democratic society," said Merkel's government in a statement.
Germany outright bans any speech that overtly promotes racism or insults a certain segment of the population. It also, due to its Nazi past, bans public Holocaust denial.
The draft legislation would require social media companies to remove any illegal speech within 24 hours of it being flagged by users. Other offensive content would need to be removed within seven days of being reported and reviewed.
The German Federation of Journalists blasted the move and said the legislation would make it "difficult to reconcile freedom of the press and opinion."
German Justice Minister Heiko Maas said the companies are responsible for policing and removing hateful content from their sites and that "there is no room for criminal incitement on social media."
"The internet affects the culture of debate and the atmosphere in our society. Verbal radicalization is often a preliminary stage to physical violence," he added.
The massive flow of refugees into Germany over the past two years has fueled a rise in negative online comments, alarming German authorities. In 2015, the social media companies agreed to step up policing of online hate speech, though Maas said they have not done enough.
Mass cited research that claims Twitter removes just one percent of the illegal content flagged by users within 24 hours, while Facebook removes 39 percent. Facebook rejected Mass's data, citing its own data that shows it removes about 65 percent of illegal content within a day.
German lawmaker Renate Kuenast called the fines "an invitation to not just erase real insults, but to wipe out almost everything for the sake of playing it safe."
The bill still needs to be approved by parliament.
德國政府揚言，若社群媒體公司無法及時移除其網站上的「仇恨語言」，將開罰鉅額罰金(slap . . . with huge fines)。
德國總理(chancellor)梅克爾(Angela Merkel)的內閣(cabinet)於週三（按：新聞發生時間是2017年4月5日）批准了一項措施(measure)。依此措施，Facebook和Twitter等公司如未能有效審查(censor)其網站上違反德國言論自由相關法律的留言，罰款將可達5,500萬歐元。
梅克爾政府在一份聲明中表示：「仇恨犯罪(hate crime)若無法有效地被打擊(combat)或是經由法律追訴(prosecute)，這會對自由開放的民主社會之和平與團結(cohesion)造成很大的危害。」
德國徹底(outright)禁止任何公然(overtly)提倡種族主義(racism)的言論，或對社會中特定族群(segment)的侮辱性言論。由於其納粹歷史，德國亦禁止公開否認二次世界大戰時的猶太人大屠殺(Holocaust)。
此立法草案(draft)要求社群媒體公司要在24小時內刪除被用戶標記(flag)為觸法的言論，而其他令人不快的(offensive)內容亦需在被舉報和審查後的七天內刪除。
德國記者聯合會(German Federation of Journalists)嚴厲抨擊(blast)此舉，表示此法將使「新聞(press)與評論的自由難以調和(reconcile)」。
德國司法部部長海科‧馬斯(Heiko Maas)表示，這些公司有責任監管(police)和移除他們網站上的仇恨內容，因為「在社群媒體網站上沒有煽動(incitement)犯罪的空間」。
他並表示：「網路影響了我們的辯論文化和社會氛圍。言語的激進化(radicalization)往往是肢體暴力形成的最初(preliminary)階段。」
過去兩年間大批難民(refugee)進入了德國，因而點燃了網路上大量的負面言論，引起德國當局注意(alarm. . .)。2015年時，多家社群媒體公司同意加強(step up)其對於網路仇恨言論的管控，但馬斯表示，這些公司做得還不夠。
馬斯引述一項研究表示，違法內容在被用戶標記後的24小時內，Twitter僅能刪除這些內容的1%，而Facebook能刪除39%。不過Facebook並不接受馬斯的資料，並引用了自己的數據，此資料顯示在一天內大約65%的違法內容會被移除。
德國立法委員雷娜特‧庫納斯特(Renate Kuenast)聲稱，這樣的罰款「不僅僅是刪除侮辱性的言語，更會導致網站公司為了安全起見(play it safe)，不分青紅皂白地刪除(wipe out)幾乎所有的內容。」
該議案(bill)仍需得到議會批准後才能實施。
Language Notes
slap (v) 懲處；課徵（稅，罰金等）
*本字表示「懲處」或「罰款」時，其後常接介系詞 "with" 來表示裁罰的內容或罰款金額；另外，本字亦常作「拍打」、「摑掌」之意
chancellor ['tʃænsəlɚ] (n)（德、奧等的）總理
censor (v) 檢查（出版物等），審查
combat (v) 打擊；與. . . . . .戰鬥
*本字亦可作名詞，意即「戰鬥，搏鬥；打鬥；鬥爭」
prosecute (v) 起訴；對. . . . . .採取法律行動
*prosecution (n) 起訴；檢舉；訴訟
outright (adv) 徹底地，完全地
segment (n) 部分；片；段
draft (n) 草稿
flag (v) 標記，標註
*本字亦是名詞，意為「旗子；旗狀物」
blast (v) 抨擊；嚴加批評
reconcile (v) 使協調，使調和
*reconciliation (n) 和解，和好；調解，調和
incitement (n) 鼓動；煽動
*incite (v) 激勵；激起；煽動
radicalization (n) 激進化；極端
*radical (adj) 激進的；過激的；極端的
preliminary [prɪ'lɪmə͵nɛrɪ] (a) 預備的；初步的
*本字亦是名詞，意即「開端；初試；（體育的）初賽，預賽」
step up (v phr) 加快；增加；加強
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