[Der Brief wurde am 12. Juni 2017 postalisch versendet, letter has been sent postal on 12 June 2017]
[My letter is based on the letter of David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Opinion/Legislation/OL-DEU-1-2017.pdf ]
HAUT-COMMISSARIAT AUX DROITS DE L’HOMME • OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
PALAIS DES NATIONS • 1211 GENEVA 10, SWITZERLAND
Stefan Dominik Anderl • Bargrabenstr. 1 • 84030 Ergolding • Germany
Tel.: 0049 871 3192049 • Mobile: 0049 163 1920206 • E-Mail: s.anderl@web.de
12 June 2017
Excellency,
I have the honour to address you as an intensive advocate of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 34/18 and as an torrid supporter of free speech.
In this connection, I would like to bring to the attention of your Excellency’s
Government information I have gathered concerning the draft law
“Netzdurchführungsgesetz”, presented by the Government on 14 March 2017, and expected to be voted on in Parliament before the national elections of September 2017. The law raises serious concerns about freedom of expression and the right to privacy online.
According to the information I could gather:
The Netzdurchführungsgesetz (hereinafter “the bill”) was proposed by the German Cabinet on 14 March 2017. The bill was introduced as a measure to protect network users against hate speech and misinformation online by putting pressure on social media companies to respond to user complaints and delete criminal content from their websites. The first reading of the bill took place in Parliament on 19 May 2017.
The bill would establish obligations and procedures for social media companies with regard to reporting and handling content complaints on social media platforms. Blatantly illegal content would have to be deleted within 24 hours, while other unlawful content would have to be taken down or blocked within seven days. The bill would impose fines up to 50 million EUR on social media companies that fail to remove undesirable content from their platforms.
The bill was approved by the Cabinet on 6 April 2017, and is expected to be voted on in Parliament before the national elections, scheduled to take place in September 2017. The bill reportedly reflects concerns in the political establishment about the role that internet misinformation could play in the upcoming election campaign. Some social media companies have reportedly stated that they are already testing fake news filtering tools in Germany.
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