Facebook To Crack Down on Xenophobic and Racist Content
- Tuesday, September 15th, 2015
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Facebook is set to outline measures aimed at dealing with racist and xenophobic content following calls by the German Justice Ministry to combat the rise of hate posts on social media linked to the European refugee crisis.
Justice Minister Heiko Maas met with the social media company on Monday following calls from Chancellor Angela Merkel last week for Facebook to do more in combating hate speech on its platform.
Germany and numerous other European countries are expecting a record-breaking influx of refugees this year as people from the Middle East flee violence and destruction in their home countries. Politicians and celebrities have voiced concerns about the rise of xenophobic comments in German on Facebook and other social media platforms.
Following his meeting with Facebook, Maas said that his ministry would set up a task force with Facebook and other social media networks, along with internet service providers, aimed at identifying criminal posts more quickly and removing them.
“This is a joint task for the whole of society, and I am very grateful to Facebook that they are taking their responsibly in this joint task,” said Maas at a news conference in Berlin.
Facebook has also partnered with FSM, a volunteer group that monitors multimedia service providers and aims to protect minors from content that is illegal or harmful, with the hope of pushing back against racist or xenophobic posts.