Mark Zuckerberg praised Germany for their inspiring refugee policies during a visit to the country and reiterated his commitment to combating hate speech on Facebook.
Speaking at a town hall event in Berlin, the 31-year old billionaire said German leadership in the refugee crisis has been insipiring and a role model for the world.
I hope other countries follow Germanys lead on this, he added. I hope the U.S. follows Germanys lead on this.
Speaking at the same event, Zuckerberg also emphasised his commitment to tackling hate speech on Facebook.
Hate speech has no place on Facebook and in our community, he said. Until recently in Germany I dont think we were doing a good enough job, and I think we will continue needing to do a better and better job.
Zuckerberg added that the company would place a special priority on tackling hate speech against migrants. Facebooks policies, he said, would now include hate speech against migrants as an important part of what we just now have no tolerance for.
Germany has been exerting considerable pressure on Facebook to co-operate with them to remove alleged hate speech against migrants on the platform. In September, German chancellor Angela Merkel was caught on tape at a luncheon event pressing Zuckerberg on the issue.
Since then, Facebook has dramatically expanded its anti-hate speech efforts, launching a new initiative to combat racist and xenophobic material on social media alongside European NGOs this January. Facebook is also cooperating with a task force set up by the Germany Justice Ministry to hunt down alleged racists on the platform.
The Germany government is taking a hard line against online critics of its refugee policies. In September, it emerged that the government had hired an organization led by a former Stasi agent to patrol Facebook for allegedly xenophobic comments.
With discontent at Angela Merkels refugee policies which the Gatestone Institute links directly to the rape epidemic currently sweeping Germany at an all time high, the government has found a valuable ally in the Facebook CEO. As weve previously highlighted at Breitbart Tech, the power of Facebook to monitor the lives and conversations of ordinary Germans is greater than the Stasis ever was.
Poster Comment:
Wonder why he would not use his own tribal homeland as the example of how refugees should be welcomed?
Yes the US should get one of those, I suggest Europe should too, We already have one of a different type and it works well, its called detention of illegal migrants and asylum seekers. It's like gitmo, once you get in you can't get out
He may be a real sharp techo geek, and had a great idea, which has made him a billionaire.
IIRC he actually stole the idea, some other guys had the idea and hired him, and he stole the idea. And his stock would be worth a fraction of what it goes for if not for the ZIRP policy designed to bailout the banks after his tribe's greed crashed our banking system.