Germany’s justice minister on Wednesday (12 April) presented the key points for a law to protect against ‘digital violence’ and anonymous hate speech, which looks to block user accounts and force platform operators to disclose IP addresses.

Through the ‘law on the protection of digital violence’, Germany’s Federal Minister of Justice, Marco Buschmann (FDP) aims to force platforms to take more drastic action against hate speech – going beyond the deletion of offensive posts to blocking users.

A major element of the planned law is a civil claim against platform operators to block hostile accounts, regulating such claims by law for the first time.

“Besides criminal prosecution in specific cases, we need means to reduce visibility and influence of even anonymous ‘hate accounts’. In doing so, the operator of social networks must also be held accountable,” stated Carmen Wegge, a member of the social democratic party (SPD).

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Blocking accounts

According to the key points laid out in the proposal, for a certain account to be blocked, the user must have made serious violations of the victim’s personal rights.

“The law should not only take effect when digital violence has been perpetrated several times. Besides, we have to take into account that digital violence takes place in many different forms and forums,” Tabea Rößner, chair of the digital committee and member of the greens party BÜNDNIS90/DIE GRÜNEN, told EURACTIV.

The proposal especially allows for account blocking if an agitator repeatedly insults his or her victim online and consequently poses a risk of repetition. Blocking an account should also be possible in cases where only the account’s name is available and the holder’s real name is unidentifiable.

“At the moment, I still doubt how relevant these will become in practice. Regarding the risk of repetition and proportionality, for instance, there are certainly more far-reaching legal pitfalls to consider,” Catarina dos Santos-Wintz, a member of the Christian Democratic Union, told EURACTIV.

To implement the account blocking within a matter of days, district courts should be able to issue a temporary injunction in flagrant cases.

Account holders must be informed of the blocking request by the respective provider before it is carried out and must be given the opportunity to comment. In this way, protection against ‘digital violence’ should not threaten free speech, and blocking requests cannot be abused to suppress legitimate criticism.

“It is important to me that it is not narrowed down to account blocks because they are only one element. Digital violence is not only intolerable, it is often accompanied by massive damage to those affected. Effective legal protection is, therefore, a central requirement of the rule of law,” the SPD’s digital spokesperson Jens Zimmerman told EURACTIV.

While the proposal outlines that suspensions should “only be imposed for a reasonable period of time,” Buschmann did not provide details on the maximum length.

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Right to Information

In addition to account suspensions, those affected by hate should also be entitled to receive more information about the person who is inciting hostility. The aim is to identify the person hiding behind hate pseudonyms.

For this reason, in practice, platform operators will have to disclose the IP address of the hate account. Subsequently, the IP address can then be used to ask the telecom provider which real person was using this IP address at a particular time. The identified individuals can then be sued for damages, or criminal charges could be filed.

So far, there is no right to user data such as IP addresses, which has made it difficult for victims of anonymous hate speech to take action.

Right to Anonymity

On the contrary, disclosing IP addresses can restrict the right to anonymity, which is enshrined in Germany’s coalition agreement. In other words, the danger stems from allowing internet access providers to identify internet users by their IP address for private purposes without any suspicion of a crime.

“This endangers people such as victims of stalking or smear campaigns who rely on the protection of anonymity on the internet. It can easily be used against the wrong people, e.g. to prosecute anonymous whistleblowers, uncover anonymous sources of journalists, and so on,” explained MEP Patrick Brayer, a member of the Pirate Party.

Until 26 May, legal policy associations can comment on the key points. The Bundestag will vote on a draft bill after it is presented in the second half of 2023.