Facebook told it must remove hate speech postings by Austrian court

A court in Austria has ruled that Facebook must remove postings deemed as hate speech.



The case was brought by Austria's Green party over insults to its leader from a fake account.

The judgement has international ramifications as the court ruled the postings must be deleted across the platform and not just in Austria.

The Austrian Greens hope to get the ruling strengthened further at Austria's highest court. They want the court to demand Facebook identify holders of fake accounts.
         
The Greens also want Facebook to pay damages, which would make it easier for individuals in similar cases to take the financial risk of taking legal action.

It comes as legislators across Europe consider ways of forcing Facebook, Google, Twitter and others to rapidly remove hate speech or incitement to violence.

Germany's cabinet approved a plan last month to fine social networks up to 50 million euro if they fail to remove such postings quickly and the European Union is considering new EU-wide rules.

Facebook and its lawyers in Vienna declined to comment on the ruling.

Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has previously stated that hate speech has no place on Facebook.
 [rte.ie]
9/5/17