The Network Enforcement Act (German: Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz - NetzDG) is and will remain a superfluous law and a threat to freedom of expression in the Internet. Oliver Süme, Chairman of the eco Board and Director of eco Policy, Law & Regulations, concludes this on the basis of of the transparency reports recently published by the affected Internet platforms. The figures show that the the deletion rate has not changed significantly due to the introduction of the NetzDG. “Companies are deleting more than a few years ago,” says Oliver Süme, “but this has nothing to do with the law, but rather results from vastly improved technologies and an increased awareness of the problem within companies”. Notifications triggered by the the NetzDG had little impact on the total number of notifications.
The interim reports demonstrate that the absolute majority of reported content does not violate the NetzDG. At the same time, most of the content which would eventually be removed is already a violation of community standards that companies check on their own initiative.
State must not outsource the dispensation of justice to companies
“While the actual benefit of the Network Enforcement Act is still doubtful, all negative aspects of the law remain”, says Oliver Süme and thus renews the fundamental criticism of the law. eco – Association of the Internet industry believes that the NetzDG takes a fundamentally wrong approach in combating illegal Internet content: “When Internet companies are, under threat of severe fines, forced by law to decide on illegality or freedom of expression and to remove unwanted comments from their Internet platforms, then a parallel private-sector based dispensation of justice emerges, separate to state prosecution. Perpetrators will not be held accountable and victims will not receive justice. This stands in direct contradiction to our judicial system,” says Oliver Süme. The state should not simply outsource its dispensation of justice to companies.
In this context, the eco Association warns that this law could be copied, for example, by autocratic regimes that exploit the same mechanism for massive censorship and suppression of freedom of expression. “It would have been good if German policy-makers had thought more about the bigger picture,” says Oliver Süme.
Since January 1, 2018, the controversial NetzDG has been in force, obliging Internet platform operators to delete illegal Internet content within a certain time period and threatening in part heavy fines.
In accordance with the law, the most strongly affected Internet companies, such as Google, Facebook and Twitter, have submitted their evaluation reports on the implementation status of the regulations.
