Facebook boss suspected of aiding 'inciting rebellion'

On November 4, the German newspaper Spiegel reported that the Munich City Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation into Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other leaders on suspicion of aiding and abetting "incitement to rebellion."

For the first time, German prosecutors have opened an investigation into Facebook executives, including founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, European chief Richard Allan and German chief Eva-Maria Kirschsieper. The investigation comes after German prosecutors received a complaint accusing Facebook executives of turning a blind eye to incitement to murder, threats of violence, Holocaust denial and other crimes.

When notified of inappropriate content, Facebook has a responsibility to remove such illegal content from its sites. However, Facebook rarely does so, and the lawsuit lists instances where Facebook fails to remove content despite repeated requests. In most cases, Facebook either fails to respond or responds with formulaic statements that the content is “harmless.”

Facebook has been under fire in Germany for allowing hateful content on the social network for more than a year. Last month, German Justice Minister Heiko Maas criticized Facebook for its lack of action when it was notified of inappropriate content posted on the social network, with a removal rate of just 46% when ordinary users reported hateful content or comments to Facebook.

According to Vietnam+