there aren't many things these men agree
on but when it comes to social media
they're strangely in step thank you very
much we're here today to defend free
speech from one of the greatest dangers
it has faced in american history frankly
both donald trump and joe biden want to
take away the u.s
law that protects platforms from being
liable for what their users post
donald trump wants to repeal it to
reduce censorship
joe biden wants to get rid of it to
compel companies into doing more to
tackle harmful content
whoever wins the presidency it seems
change is coming to social media in the
us
elsewhere lawmakers around the world are
also trying to grapple with the issue of
hate speech
and harmful content increasingly many
are looking here for answers
germany it's been nearly three years
since a pioneering new law was passed
here in germany to regulate social media
it's called the network dossiers or
netdg for short
and many countries around the world have
seen it as a benchmark for tackling
something
they are all trying to deal with hate
speech and fake news
on social media according to danish
human rights think tank justitia at
least 25 countries around the globe
including the uk have discussed or even
adopted regulation models
similar to netsdg but has netsdg
actually made a difference
firstly let's look at why it was
introduced
it all started with the migrant crisis
in 2015
germany germany they chance europe's new
land of opportunity
germany opened its doors to hundreds of
thousands of refugees
the following month saw an increase in
anti-immigrant hate speech online
so the german government brought in this
strict regulation
the three main principles of this law is
any social network with two million or
more users
must provide an easy to use mechanism so
people can report
content that they find defensive the
social networks must also delete
anything that's obviously illegal within
24 hours or face a maximum 45 million
pound fine
and they must provide every six months a
transparency report
which details any harmful content they
find on their services
literally within three days its effects
were felt
yeah hitler he's on a lot of
titanic magazines titanic magazine is
germany's biggest satirical publication
they were the first victims of netsdg
when they got suspended from twitter
after posting some spoof racist tweets
mocking a right-wing politician
twitter in this case thought
that this is um racist i mean
it is of course it's racist because we
are a satirical magazine and we're just
um we're just i'm quoting what she what
she already had said
the move sparked outcry critics said
that this showed that so-called
over-blocking was happening where social
networks played it safe and removed lots
of content
to avoid fines but titanic did get its
account back within a couple of days
and actually moritz and his team say
netsdg has generally
been positive it hasn't affected titanic
very much since then i think netsdg is
in its car is not bad according to a new
independent report
commissioned by the german government
the law has broadly made a positive
difference
the next dg evaluation found no evidence
that social networks overblocked content
researchers found that although some
items needed more time to be analyzed
social networks had taken action on most
within 24 hours
only one fine has so far been issued
facebook had to pay 2 million euros
for under reporting the amount of hate
speech on its platform
but has there been any trickle-down
effects to make social networks
generally safer
and nicer for everyday users varina is
an influencer
she says the majority of her online life
is positive but if netsdg was meant to
reduce nastiness online
it hasn't worked you get a lot of hate
comments like people
say that i look like a whale or
i'm like an elephant have you noticed a
difference between
2018 when netsdg came in and now
maybe maybe on facebook but not on
instagram
and not on tv it was a process to
be here right now to be cool with myself
and to be strong and self-confident
critics of netsdg including the social
networks themselves
argue it's too strict and is harming
free speech in germany
and there are concerns the law is being
used as a template for censorship
in other less free countries like turkey
which recently passed a similar law
according to justity's analysis eight of
the 25 countries
considering nets dg like laws are
classed as having an internet that's
not free and a further 12 are classed as
only partly free
it's a trend that's troubling german
lawmakers if
there is no freedom of speech anyway in
your country or it is restricted then of
course
yes an sdg would help you to do the same
restriction or free opinion
and this is what we would not share
later this month facebook will launch
its oversight board
nicknamed the supreme court for
moderating content its board will assess
the decisions of both facebook
and instagram but it's still up to each
country to set its own laws
and whilst many have looked to germany
for answers soon
all eyes may turn here