BERLIN, Feb. 19 -- The German government passed a law on Wednesday to combat serious cases of right-wing extremism and hate crime on the internet.
Social networks in Germany now have to report certain postings to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), according to the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (BMJV).
Under the new law, social networks should report postings that disseminate propaganda material of unconstitutional organizations. They are also required to report postings that prepare a severe act of violence or incite hatred that endangers the state.
In order to identify offenders quickly, German authorities can ask social networks to provide the IP address and port number last assigned to the user profile, according to the BMJV.
Authorities can also request user passwords on a court order in cases of suspected serious crimes such as terrorism or homicide.
Previously, digital platform operators had only been required to delete hate postings once they were aware of them.
The maximum punishment for posting threats was increased from one year to three years' imprisonment.
"Those who rush and threaten on the internet will be prosecuted more harshly and effectively in the future. Hate crimes should finally end up in court where they belong," said Christine Lambrecht, Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection.
The new law was presented as a response to the right-wing terrorist attack on the Jewish community in October 2019, when a heavily armed man shot two people dead, one of them outside a synagogue, in the eastern German city of Halle.
"We must dry up the breeding ground on which this extremism flourishes. The flood of inhuman incitements and threats on the internet is lowering inhibition thresholds," said Lambrecht.