The ADL and the Simon Wiesenthal Center will be happy with this. <\/p>\n
REUTERS<\/a>: Facebook Inc (FB.O) began a Europe-wide campaign on Monday to thwart extremist posts on social media, after German politicians in particular raised concerns about a rise in xenophobic comments linked to an influx of refugees.<\/p>\n The U.S.-based group launched its “Initiative for Civil Courage Online” in Berlin, pledging over 1 million euros (1 million pounds) to support non-governmental organisations in their efforts to counter racist and xenophobic posts.<\/p>\n Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said hate speech “has no place in our society”, including in the Internet.<\/p>\n Facebook’s ground rules forbid bullying, harassment and threatening language, but critics say it does not enforce them properly.<\/p>\n On Friday, the firm said it had hired a unit of the publisher Bertelsmann to monitor and delete racist posts on its platform in Germany.<\/p>\n In November, prosecutors in Hamburg launched an investigation into Facebook on suspicion of not doing enough to prevent the dissemination of hate speech.<\/p>\n Top German politicians and celebrities have voiced concern about the rise of anti-foreigner comments on Facebook and other social media as the country struggles to cope with a tide of new migrants that amounted to 1.1 million last year alone.<\/p>\n Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged Facebook to do more, and the Justice Ministry set up a task force with Facebook and other social networks and Internet service providers with the aim of identifying criminal posts more quickly and taking them down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The ADL and the Simon Wiesenthal Center will be happy with this. REUTERS: Facebook Inc (FB.O) began a Europe-wide campaign on Monday to thwart extremist posts on social media, after German politicians in particular raised concerns about a rise in … Continue reading