Germany can now fine social media sites $60 million for allowing hate speech

Any social network or media company that boasts more than two million members will be on the hook under the new provisions, which means that folks like Reddit, Tumblr, Vimeo, Flickr, and even Russian social network VK will likely be affected.

While the Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz (NetzDG) law was actually passed last summer and went into effect in October 2017, Germany gave companies until the end of the year to properly equip themselves to address hate speech reports. But now, three months later, the nation expects large social networks to have the tools they need to combat fake news, racist posts, and other bigoted messages on public platforms.

A number of social media sites have already attempted to cut down on the spread of certain fallacious reports on their platforms. Facebook, for example, rolled out its fake news identification tools at the beginning of 2017, and claimed that its efforts were already having a mediating effect. Journalists, however, weren’t so sure about Facebook’s self-reported success rates.

Under NetzDG, however, the stakes will be much higher. And not everyone is thrilled about the stringent new laws. Some in Germany (and around the world) worry that the provisions could result in censorship or infringe upon free speech. But Germany is far from the only country to criticize social media platforms for their role in spreading false information and otherwise unsavory material — lawmakers in the U.K. for example, have said that these networks are “shamefully far” from adequately addressing hate speech and problematic content.