April 05, 2023

Twitter Fined For "Illegal" Content By Germany Federal, CEO Responds

Germany's federal office of justice has initiated proceedings to fine Twitter for mishandling user complaints about "illegal" content that wasn't deleted or blocked.

The German authority has given Twitter the chance to respond before deciding whether to refer the matter to a district court in Bonn.

Elon Musk had replied on Twitter- "First I’ve heard about this. Did they identify what content they’re concerned about?"

The German authority did not specify which examples of illegal content it was referring to.

The press release by German Office reads- "The BfJ has sufficient indications that it has violated the legal obligation to deal with complaints about illegal content.."

According to the NetzDG, content is considered illegal if it fulfills one of the offenses of the Criminal Code such as incitement to hatred, insult or threat.

They call to delete or access illegal content, observing the statutory period of seven days or 24 hours in the event of obvious illegality lock.