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	German Parliament passes law to fine social media companies for not deleting hate speech by Deutsche Welle, agencies Germany   June 2017   German lawmakers have approved a law that would impose high fines on social media companies like Facebook, Twitter or YouTube for failing to swiftly delete posts deemed to exhibit hate speech.   Under the new legislation, social media companies have 24 hours to remove posts that obviously violate German law and have been reported by other users. In cases that are more ambiguous, Facebook and other sites have seven days to deal with the offending post. If they don''t comply with the new legislation, the companies could face a fine of up to 50 million euros ($57.1 million).   The law was passed with votes from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) - Social Democratic Party (SPD) government coalition. The Left Party in the Bundestag voted against it, while members of the Greens abstained.   The new rules are supposed to drastically reduce the number of posts containing hate speech, fake news and terror propaganda on social media. In January and February 2017, Youtube deleted 90 percent of hate speech videos reported by users - but Twitter only deleted one percent. Facebook did a little better at 39 percent.   "We do not accept the fact that companies in Germany do not adhere to the law," Justice Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) told public broadcaster ARD in April, explaining why the new legislation was necessary.   Skeptics criticize, however, that under the new rules social media managers are the ones who have to decide whether content complies with German law. They also worry that freedom of speech will suffer since, in their opinion, companies are likely to delete many posts just to be on the safe side and avoid fines.   Maas said the new law didn''t curb freedom of speech but was rather a prerequisite for it. To counter the criticism, the legislation also stipulates the establishment of an independent regulatory institution to which Facebook and other sites can pass on content when they''re not sure whether it should be deleted. Investigators there will then make the final decision.   In addition to the strict new rules about deletion, the law forces networks to reveal the identity of those behind the hateful posts and to offer users "an easily recognizable, directly reachable, and constantly available" complaint process for "prosecutable content," which includes libel, slander, defamation, incitement to commit a crime, hate speech against a particular social group, and threats.   Germany is the first country in Europe to introduce such clear legal guidelines against online hate speech.   * On the rise of online hate speech, A. E. Elliott writes from Berlin. (Open Democracy)   2016 was one of the worst years for online hate speech, a year when neo-fascists overwhelmed the comments sections of many online forums. Members of the alt-right took popular platforms like Disqus, Facebook and Twitter by storm, flooding them with hateful posts. They attempted to reshape the debate on a wide range of issues including Brexit, Trump, immigration and Islam: http://bit.ly/2x895wn   http://theconversation.com/regulate-social-media-platforms-before-its-too-late-86984 Visit the related web page
	Ongoing challenges in Tibet by Sophie Richardson Human Rights Watch, agencies   July 2018   China: Crackdown on Tibetan Social Groups. (Human Rights Watch)   Chinese authorities are using an ostensible anti-mafia campaign to target suspected political dissidents and suppress civil society initiatives in Tibetan areas, Human Rights Watch said in a report released this week. The authorities are now treating even traditional forms of social action, including local mediation of community or family disputes by lamas or other traditional authority figures, as illegal.   The 101-page report, “‘Illegal Organizations’: China’s Crackdown on Tibetan Social Groups,” details efforts by the Chinese Communist Party at the local level to eliminate the remaining influence of lamas and traditional leaders within Tibetan communities. The report features rare in-depth interviews, state media cartoons depicting the new restrictions, and cases of Tibetans arbitrarily detained for their involvement in community activities.   “Police and Chinese Communist Party cadres already had virtually unlimited power over the daily lives of Tibetans,” said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch. “But now authorities can prosecute people for simply gathering for any purpose not directly mandated or approved by the state.”   In February 2018, the Tibet Autonomous Region Public Security Bureau published a list of newly defined forms of “organized crime” in a circular – the first set of such prohibitions to be announced at the provincial level. The now-banned activities include any initiatives for the promotion of local language and culture, and protection of the local environment. The document deems those activities to be expressions of support for the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and therefore subversive. Similarly, traditional forms of social organization, such as the mediation of community and family disputes and community welfare funds, are characterized as organized crime.   Human Rights Watch found that the criminalization of innocuous forms of social activism has been official policy in some Tibetan areas since 2012. That policy accounts for numerous detentions and prosecutions of community activists, and closures of local schools and other self-help groups during this period. Local regulations from Chamdo Municipality in the Tibet Autonomous Region and Malho Prefecture in Qinghai Province ban any “group with more than five members” formed without official permission, and declare any popular initiative for the promotion of Tibetan language, culture, and religion, or for protection of local environment and wildlife, to be agitation for Tibetan independence and collusion with “foreign anti-China forces.”   As a United Nations member state, China has affirmed acceptance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which promotes the rights to freedom of association, peaceful assembly, expression, and to participate in the cultural life of the community. These new regulations are the latest evidence that China is systematically violating these rights in Tibetan areas, Human Rights Watch said. The Chinese government, Party officials, and state security forces should immediately end their unjustified interventions into the creation and conduct of independent social associations in Tibetan communities.   Concerned governments and UN bodies should publicly call on China’s leaders to reconcile the laws and policies restricting the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association with their claims to respect the rule of law. These concerns should also be expressed at China’s review under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination at the UN in August 2018.   “Beijing repeatedly claims that Tibetans have autonomy and their rights as an ethnic minority are respected,” Richardson said. “But the realities show only increasing repression of Tibetans’ daily lives and basic human rights.”   http://www.hrw.org/news/2018/07/29/china-crackdown-tibetan-social-groups   June 2018   UN human rights experts condemn 5-year jail term for Tibetan activist. (OHCHR)   UN human rights experts have condemned a five-year jail sentence handed to Mr. Tashi Wangchuk by a Chinese court for his work promoting cultural and linguistic rights of the Tibetan minority of China. The Intermediate Court in Yushu, Qinghai province, made public its verdict on 22 May, nearly five months after hearing the case against Mr. Wangchuk.   Mr. Wangchuk was arrested in January 2016 for participating in a documentary in which he appealed for education in the Tibetan minority language and for the right of Tibetan people to partake in their cultural life. He has been held in detention since his arrest.   The Court found him guilty of “incitement to separatism”.   “We are gravely concerned about the sentencing of Mr. Tashi Wangchuk, and the sanctioning of his right to freely express his opinion about the human rights of the Tibetan minority of China,” the experts said.   “Governments should under no circumstances undermine or repress legitimate human rights advocacy and action, such as in this case, using national security, public order or anti-terrorism discourses”, they added.   “It is deeply concerning that this sentencing came after we issued two joint communications calling for his immediate release and for all of the charges to be dropped,” the experts said.   “We asked the Government to provide information about specific measures undertaken to promote and protect the linguistic and cultural rights of the Tibetan minority. We regret that, to date, the Government of China has not yet provided us with a satisfactory response.”   In December 2017, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an Opinion which found that Mr Wangchuk’s detention was arbitrary and in contravention of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.   “Once again, we strongly urge the Chinese authorities to comply with their international human rights commitments, to grant Mr. Wangchuk immediate release and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations.” http://bit.ly/2JKg48a   June 2017   Chinese authorities are increasingly using opaque policy terms in official media to tighten repression in Tibet, Human Rights Watch said in an illustrated glossary released today.   Tibet: A Glossary of Repression explains and illustrates a dozen terms that appear benign or even positive but are in fact used to ensure total compliance and surveillance by officials of ordinary Tibetan people. The glossary includes terms that relate to political and social control, such as “comprehensive rectification,” “no cracks, no shadows, no gaps left,” and “every village a fortress, everyone a watchman.”   “Orwell himself would be hard pressed to invent a better vocabulary of totalitarian management,” said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch. “But ultimately the message of the Chinese authorities’ terms for Tibetans is clear: political nonconformity will be punished, severely.”   These terms are used – and frequently repeated – not only to persuade populations inside and outside Tibet of the correctness of the Chinese Communist Party’s rule and its policies, but also to deter criticisms of the Party and any challenge to its rule. These terms – few of which are explained in a manner comprehensible to the general public – reflect a profoundly repressive approach to governance in Tibet.   In Tibetan areas within China, and particularly in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), officials have long adhered to the “stability maintenance” policy: a range of policing and administrative systems aimed at preventing, controlling, or punishing social dissent and social disorder used across China – as one way to eradicate support for the Dalai Lama. But when a new wave of protests in support of the Dalai Lama broke out across the Tibetan plateau in spring 2008, Party leaders commissioned researchers to develop new methods to prevent future unrest.   This led to the introduction, from 2011 onward, of new administrative and security mechanisms in the TAR, including permanent teams of cadres installed as managers in every monastery and religious institution, teams of cadres deployed for three years in every village to organize security operations and political education, and “grid system” offices set up to monitor and manage each block or group of homes in every town and many villages.   “Understanding terms like ‘social rectification’ makes clear Chinese authorities’ intentions in Tibet: that all life and daily behavior will be under surveillance, and any problematic conduct will be identified and swiftly punished,” Richardson said. http://bit.ly/2s20fMW   http://www.hrw.org/asia/china-and-tibet Visit the related web page
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