Germany to force Facebook, Google and Twitter to act on hate speech

Justice minister threatens sanctions such as fines on tech companies if they still fail to delete illegal posts by early next year

Germany is to consider new laws that would force social media platforms such as Facebook and search engines such as Google to take a more active role in policing illegal hate speech on their sites.

Measures considered by Angela Merkel's coalition government include forcing companies to set up clear channels for registering complaints, to publish the number of complaints they receive and to hire legally qualified ombudsmen to carry out deletions.