Germany fines Facebook $2.3 million for only reporting a 'fraction' of its illegal content complaints

Facebook has been hit with a $2.3 million fine by German authorities, who say the company underreported the number of illegal content complaints it has received, CNN reports.

The German Federal Office of Justice on Tuesday said that a 2018 transparency report Facebook submitted as required by German law "lists only a fraction of complaints about illegal content" and that the company created a "distorted public image."

Under Germany's Network Enforcement Act, social media companies have to release information every six months on the amount of illegal content complaints it has had, CNN notes. But the Federal Office of Justice said Facebook only counted certain types of complaints, therefore producing an inaccurate number, Reuters reports. The Associated Press reports that Germany's law was implemented to combat hate speech, and the illegal content in question would include, for example, anti-Semitic insults. Politico notes this is the "first time that a European country has sanctioned an American social media giant for failing to be transparent about the way it handles hate speech."

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Facebook in a statement denied its report was not "in accordance with the law," and cited "many critics" as arguing Germany's law "lacks clarity."