Germany threatens to fine Facebook €500,000 over fake posts

London: A day after Facebook said it was stepping up efforts against fake news and hoaxes, Germany announced a new law that will empower it to fine the social media giant 500,000 euros ($522,575) for every problematic post that does not vanish within 24 hours. 

“After years of asking, cajoling and threatening the US social network to work faster to tackle fake news and hate speech, Berlin made clear it is no longer interested in selfregulation,” a report in Irish Times said on Sunday .. 

“Facebook did not use the chance to regulate complaint management properly,” Thomas Oppermann, the Bundestag floor leader of Germany’s ruling Social Democrats (SPD), was quoted as saying. 

He said that after a “long and intensive effort to build bridges” with the company, the SPD and its coalition partner, chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), have agreed to present new legislation in the new year. 

The law will oblige all dominant internet platforms operating in Germany to have a legal contact, operating round-the clock, for victims of hate speech and fake news, the report said. Currently, Facebook users in Germany complain to the platform’s headquarters in Dublin — with an unclear response and action time.