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2022 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

11. Diversity, Fake News and Hate Speech: The German Response to Algorithmic Regulation

Author : Kerstin Liesem

Published in: The Algorithmic Distribution of News

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

Germany is taking a pioneering role both in Europe and across the world when it comes to digital platform regulation. This chapter examines two new German laws, the Interstate Media Treaty and the Network Enforcement Act. I explore the development of the laws and analyse their different regulatory objectives. While the former aims to safeguard diversity of opinion, the latter tries to protect individuals from hate crime, including certain forms of hate speech, criminally punishable fake news and other unlawful content. The article follows an interdisciplinary approach, combining communication studies research with legal analysis.

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An offer is a programme and telemedium refers to all electronic information and communications services that are not telecommunication services.

Article 93 MStV states:

“(1) Providers of media intermediaries shall, in order to ensure diversity of opinion, keep the following information easily perceptible, directly accessible and constantly available:

1. the criteria that determine whether a content is accessible to a media intermediary and whether a content remains with a media intermediary

2. the central criteria of an aggregation, selection and presentation of contents and their weighting including information about the functionality of the algorithms used in an understandable language.

(2) Providers of media intermediaries who have a thematic specialisation shall be obliged to make this specialisation perceptible through the design of their offerings. Art. 91 para. 2 No. 2 shall remain unaffected.

(3) Changes to the criteria mentioned in para. 1 and the orientation pursuant to para. 2 shall be made immediately perceptible in the same way.

(4) Providers of media intermediaries offering social networks shall ensure that telemedia within the meaning of Article 18 para. 3 are labelled”.

Art. 94 Interstate Media Treaty states:

“(1) In order to safeguard diversity of opinions, media intermediaries may not discriminate against journalistically and editorially designed offers on whose perceptibility they have a particularly high influence.

(2) Discrimination within the meaning of paragraph 1 shall be deemed to exist if, without objectively justified reason, the criteria to be published pursuant to Art. 93 paragraphs 1 to 3 are systematically deviated from in favour of or to the disadvantage of a particular offer or if these criteria directly or indirectly and systematically hinder offers in an unfair manner.

(3) An infringement can only be asserted by the affected provider of journalistic and editorial content with the competent state media authority. In obvious cases, the violation can also be prosecuted by the competent state media authority ex officio”.

An insult, which German law punishes under § 185 StGB is an attack on the honour of another person by manifesting disrespect for that person.

Defamation is an offence of honour in which, in contrast to the value judgement in the case of an insult, the assertion and public dissemination of defamatory facts are punishable.

In German criminal law, slander means that someone makes defamatory allegations about a person even though he knows that the allegations are untrue.

The main issue was the first article of the “Loi Avia”: according to it, platforms only have an hour to remove terrorist material or child pornography and other “manifestly unlawful” content, otherwise they face a heavy fine. The court first underlined the role of information intermediaries in today’s society: Given “the widespread development of online communication services for the public” and “the importance of these services for participation in democratic life”, freedom of expression “includes the freedom to access and express oneself in these services”. According to the judges, this right is disproportionately restricted by the “Loi Avia”, because the sovereignty of interpretation over the obvious illegality of a content is left to the platforms.

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Title: Diversity, Fake News and Hate Speech: The German Response to Algorithmic Regulation
Author: Kerstin Liesem
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Book: The Algorithmic Distribution of News
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-87085-0

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-87086-7

Copyright Year: 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87086-7_11