German Federal Minister Of Justice Introduces New Bill Against Criminal Content On Social Networks

On 14 March 2017, the German Federal Minister of Justice, Heiko Maas, announced a new bill aimed at improving the application of the law to social networks (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Verbesserung der Rechtsdurchsetzung in sozialen Netzwerken; Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz – NetzDG, the Bill). The Bill strengthens the rights of individuals who are affected by 'hate speech' or 'fake news' placed by third parties on social networks. The Bill also sets out binding standards for an effective and transparent complaint management system and establishes a duty for social networks to issue quarterly reports on their handling of user complaints about criminal content.

Scope of and definitions under Bill

The Bill shall apply to internet platform providers that enable users to make content available to, or share content with, other users (Social Networks). Social Networks...