German prosecutors are investigating a complaint against three Facebook managers for inciting hatred via the social network.
"Facebook Germany GmbH encourages the dissemination of offensive, punishable content through its actions in Germany" by failing to act against racist comments posted on the social network, says lawyer Chan-jo Jun in the complaint.
German criminal law allows any individual to file a complaint with law enforcement agencies if they believe the actions of one or many individuals constitute criminal offense.
Germany's law can punish individuals with up to three years in prison for publicising a comment that encourages hatred or violence against citizens based on their ethnic or religious background.
Empty promises
In mid-September, Facebook pledged to work with the German government to thwart the dissemination of racism, xenophobia and hate speech on the social network in the wake of the refugee crisis in Europe.
Responding to encouragement from German chancellor Angela Merkel, Facebook met with German justice minister Heiko Maas, whose ministry aimed to set up a task force with Facebook and other social networks and Internet service providers to more quickly identify and remove criminal posts online. The social network said it would set up monitoring of anti-foreigner commentary and encourage "counter-speech".
Yet Jun told German news site Die Welt that he had flagged dozens of criminal posts - including some featuring Nazi insignia - on Germany's Facebook as offensive, according to the social network's guidelines, only to be met with the response that the posts did not contradict Facebook's "community standards".
This is not the first time Facebook has come under fire from Germany's authorities for its attitude regarding hate speech.
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