An Austrian court has recently ordered the popular social media platform, Facebook, to delete postings that are considered as hate speeches. An important ruling with major international implications.
According to BBC News, the Green Party of Austria went to the court after its popular leader was targeted by a false Facebook account. Maria Windhager is the lawyer who represents Eva Glawischnig, the Greens politician. The lawyer went to the court over some comments about the said politician posted using a fake profile.
The lawyer has uttered that this court ruling is a clear rebuff to the specific claims of Facebook. It is reported that the popular social media claimed that any court actions against this media platform can only be heard in Ireland or California. These are the places where the European and the world headquarters of this famous social media are located, Phys.org reported.
In its recent order, the court in Austria has clearly ruled that hate speech postings must be deleted not only in Austria but worldwide. No immediate official comment is so far surfaced from Facebook. This court decision is regarded as a great victory for the campaigners who desperately want all the social media platforms to combat the online trolling.
The court in Vienna ruled that the postings against the leader of Green party Eva Glawischnig should be immediately removed. The ruling added that only blocking these messages for the users abroad can't be sufficient, and it is necessary to remove them completely. The court uttered that it was an easy task for the Facebook to automate the process.
Dieter Brosz, the Green lawmaker, opines that Facebook now could not only claim that it is just a platform. Now, this giant social media firm has to take full responsibility for properly tackling the hate postings. Currently, a huge number of tech users avail a number of social media platforms to communicate with other persons.
Not only Facebook but other internet giants, like Google, Twitter have also faced the same experiences in many countries. These social media platforms have already come under fire as they failed to delete the hate speeches immediately from their media platforms. Some countries have started to take stringent actions against the postings of hate speech.
Recently, the German ministers have approved some constructive plans. According to these plans, any social media can face a fine of maximum 50m euros or $53.3m for failing to remove the hate speech. Some companies also declare a list of measures to address these issues.
Google said that some important changes on how the company's core search engine performs must help to stop the spreading of the hate speech. These changes also act positively to prevent the fake news. Facebook announced that the company would hire 3000 people in order to stop the broadcasting of the hate speech on the website.
It is true that social media platforms are very helpful in establishing a smooth communication among the people. But, at the same time, its misuse should be stopped as it can provide bad impact. Recent court ruling about Facebook has pointed out that fact.
