Thomas Oppermann, a parliamentary chairman of Germany's Social Democratic Party, has proposed that Facebook should pay a fine of £425,000 if it fails to remove fake news and illegal posts within 24 hours. In addition to this, Oppermann said that "Facebook will be legally required to build a legal protection office in Germany, available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year".
Fake news has been a trending topic at the end of 2016 after many considered the American presidential election to be rigged in one way or another. Germany is now taking action to combat this problem and will be implementing new policies that social media outlets have to follow in order to operate in the country. If the policies are effective, it could mean that other countries implement this sort of system too. According to Facebook, they are currently working on their own methodology such as having a 'report' feature on news posts.
In my opinion, the actions taken by Germany are extreme (especially on the fine rate) however influential people have already argued that Facebook can afford this kind of cost. I am certain that the final system will much more sensible and less strict. However, the cost of fake news circulating countries such as the US can have very negative effects to events like elections. I believe it would be better for Facebook to add 'verified' badges to news outlets so that readers can identify fake and real news sources
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