Under the new law, social networks will have to delete hate speech, but also flag posts the indicate terrorist activity, the “formation of criminal and terrorist groups,” rape and death threats, racial hate spech and/or child pornography. The platforms will also have to give the police “the last IP address and port number most recently assigned to the user profile.” (Financial Times)

Talking point: While some experts are concerned the German legislation gives too much power to social networks in determining what constitutes harmful and illegal content, other countries are following suit. The U.K. is working on a similar piece of legislation aimed at instating a “duty of care” for online platforms to safeguard users. The U.S. is holding workshops on the necessity of Section 230, through which tech companies cannot be held legally responsible for user-generated content. Facebook declined to comment on the new German law, but has previously said being required to report potentially illegal content to law enforcement “raises a number of legal, practical and societal questions that need to be addressed.”