Social media governance and strategies to combat online hatespeech in Germany
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Date
2023-12
Publication Type
Journal Article
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yes
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Abstract
Concerns over online hatespeech have prompted governments to strengthen social media governance. However, claims by policy-makers and political activists regarding the effectiveness and likely consequences of legal regulations remain largely untested. We rely on qualitative interviews and two expert surveys to examine the behavior of public relations professionals in response to online hatespeech when having the option of using the new user-complaint mechanism under the German Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG). Our findings reveal that strategies depend on whether professionals work at public sector institutions, business, or civil society organizations and political parties. Public sector institutions are likely to report to the platform, but not under NetzDG. Civil society organizations are likely to choose content moderation, counterspeech, and other forms of intervention. Businesses deploy a wide range of strategies. In practice, Germany's procedural approach relying on user-complaint mechanisms to deal with online hatespeech is not used by experts as a means to combat online harassment.
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Publication status
published
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Book title
Journal / series
Volume
15 (4)
Pages / Article No.
627 - 645
Publisher
Wiley
Event
Edition / version
Methods
Software
Geographic location
Date collected
Date created
Subject
Germany; governance; hatespeech; public relations; social media