From Facebook, Google, Twitter agree to delete hate speech in 24 hours:
Germany said on Tuesday that Facebook, Google and Twitter have agreed to delete hate speech from their websites within 24 hours, a new step in the fight against rising online racism following the refugee crisis.
The government has been trying to get social platforms to crack down on the rise in anti-foreigner comments in German on the web as the country struggles to cope with an influx of more than 1 million refugees this year.
The new agreement makes it easier for users and anti-racism groups to report hate speech to specialist teams at the three companies, German Justice Minister Heiko Maas said.
The question this articles does not define is an important one: who decides what is hate speech and what will be removed by these three companies?
Personally, I don't think this is a good policy, because I already know what will happen: the "hate speech" will simply get driven underground where the disinfecting rays of sunlight cannot reach it. In other words: it will make the underlying problems worse than they are.
Then again, I'm starting to think that's the point of this move--to keep us uninformed and fighting with each other so the thugs in charge can solidify their positions of power over us.