Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann said on Friday that it was becoming increasingly apparent "that hate speech creates an atmosphere in which people no longer take part in discourses or debates".

Although there are legal rules against this in many member states, they also have to be enforced.

Buschmann discussed this on Friday with his EU colleagues at the informal Judicial Council in Lille.

Thomas Gutschker

Political correspondent for the European Union, NATO and the Benelux countries based in Brussels.

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The Internet companies Meta, i.e. Facebook, and Google had also sent high-ranking representatives to the northern French city.

Twitter did not see itself able to do this, the internal corona rules did not allow personal meetings, the group said.

Where there's a will, there's a way, commented French justice minister and host Eric Dupont-Moretti.

He demonstratively released a chair for the short message service to document his anger.

Puzzles about the address of Telegram

Telegram was not even invited, although death threats against public figures are published almost every day in the messenger service.

On Friday, the State Criminal Police Office of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania searched the house of a man in Rostock suspected of threatening the Prime Minister of the state, Manuela Schwesig, in this way.

But in order to invite Telegram, you would first have to know the address of the group.

The Federal Office of Justice is struggling with this.

Since last spring, it has been trying in vain to send the company, which is officially based in Dubai, a hearing letter in the course of fine proceedings for such legal violations.

On Friday, the federal government was at least able to report an initial success: Interior Minister Nancy Faeser reported that informal contact had been established with the "top management", a "constructive discussion" and that the exchange would continue - "a good success".

Google had provided an e-mail address for contact, but the letter cannot be formally delivered.

In fact, this is only possible abroad with the help of the authorities there.

If the next attempt of this kind also fails, Justice Minister Buschmann brought up a new option in Lille: “public service abroad”, which is possible if “access is blocked”.

A fine can then be imposed.

"That can be a fine in the millions," threatened the FDP politician. The solution could only be "that Telegram not only accepts the German regulations, but also implements them". Such contortions show how difficult it is for individual states to enforce the applicable law. "I think Telegram will be more impressed if we act together as Europeans," Buschmann said.

But how?

The EU Commission has taken several initiatives in this regard.

With a new law, the Digital Services Act, she wants to legally oblige internet providers to take active action against illegal content.

So far there has only been a voluntary commitment by a few large corporations.

What is illegal must be specified in separate legislation.

Hate speech is already a criminal offense in all Member States, but the regulations vary greatly.

The Commission therefore proposed in December to make hate speech and hate crime a European criminal offence.

However, the 27 states must decide unanimously on this step.

There is "particularly broad support" for this, said EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders after the first debate in Lille.

One is already "very close" to unanimity, and no state has spoken out against it in principle.

"Of course we have to respect freedom of speech," Reynders said.

Participants said that the representatives of Poland and Hungary in particular emphasized this.

Both countries are subject to infringement procedures over discrimination against sexual minorities.

In this context, there are public statements by leading politicians that may well constitute hate speech.

However, its definition and the establishment of minimum penalties would only take place in the second step. A qualified majority would then suffice, meaning that Poland and Hungary would have no right of veto. Nonetheless, a complicated discussion is expected that could drag on for years. After all, there are very different traditions in the Member States. In Germany, for example, denial of the Holocaust is considered hate speech, but not in most other countries.

Reynders expressed the hope that the first step could be taken at the next meeting in early March.

However, this is not easy, especially for Germany.

For example, there has been a strict national law against hate speech since last year;

the European added value is therefore not self-evident.

In addition, the Federal Constitutional Court sees criminal law as part of the constitutional identity.

Competencies can only be transferred here with the consent of the Bundestag.

Buschmann therefore initially lodged a parliamentary scrutiny in Brussels.