German government has said it is considering handing down £425,000 (500,000 euros or $522,000) to Facebook for each fake news item it posts.
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The consideration, according to report, is to ensure that Facebook stops hate speech posts on the social network.
Justice Minister Heiko Maas reportedly said his ministry was checking whether it would be possible to make social networking sites legally liable for illegal posts, suggesting Facebook should be fined £425,000 (500,000 euros or $522,000) for each fake news item it posts.
‘Of course in the end, we also have to think about fines, if other measures fail to work… That would be a strong incentive to act quickly,” Mr Maas told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.
In recent time, Germany has seen a sharp increase in vitriolic posts on social media owing to a heated public debate over the influx of more than a million migrants.
