According to the BBC, an Austria court has ordered Facebook to remove postings seen as “Hate Speech”
A court in Austria has ordered that Facebook must remove postings seen as hate speech, in a ruling that is set to have international implications.
The case was brought by the country’s Green Party after its leader was targeted by a false account.
The court said postings not just in Austria but worldwide must be deleted. Facebook has not yet commented.
The ruling is seen as a victory for campaigners who want to make social media platforms combat online trolling.
The appeals court in Vienna ruled that postings against Greens’ leader Eva Glawischnig as any verbatim repostings should be removed.
It added that merely blocking the messages in Austria without removing them for users abroad was not sufficient.
The court said it was easy for Facebook to automate this process.
Austria has now entered a very dark place. This “Hate Speech” censorship tool will now be used as a political weapon. Austrian Government officials will pressure Facebook into stopping any anti-government rhetoric and have it classified as “Hate Speech”.
Europes dark days are far from over
