Sekuritizace a právní nástroje pro boj s projevy nenávisti na internetu v Německu
Securitization and Legal Instruments for Countering Hate on the Internet in Germany

On Discourse from Understanding the Social Media Platforms as “Instruments Misused for Dissemination of Extremism” to Perception of Their “Responsibility for Removal

Summary/Abstract: In the contribution is provided a discussion on the development of securitization of expressions of hate speech on the internet, i.e. “cyber hate”, in Germany. The authors focus through the theory of securitization firstly on the process and individual steps, which led to establishment of instruments for countering cyber hate on social media. Next is described how these efforts resulted in creation of so called “Task Force” group, build from members of government, private and non-profit sectors, and how has the perception of social media with regard to security threat of extremism been developing. From the provided analysis emerges that there was a shift in the discourse from understanding the social media platforms as passive “instruments misused for dissemination of extremism” to stronger perception of their “accountability for removal of the hate speech content”. It is therefore a shift, which leads to their perception as active subjects, which are jointly liable for the illegal content and which obligation is to directly contribute to solving its removal. Currently last significant component in this development is the adoption of progressive legal framework for improvement of the enforcement of law in the online social networks environment (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechtsdurchsetzung in sozialen Netzwerken), which strengthens the position of the state in enforcement of the required measures. For this reason the authors pay significant attention to this legislative act and provide thorough analysis, which they further reflect in a general assessment of the development in countering cyber hate on social media in Germany and also in broader European context.

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