German prosecutor acts against racist posts by investigating Facebook manager

After the harrowing incident of Syria war, many migrants fled the scene to different countries. Germany being on the top, absorbed influx of thousands of refugees and thousands more is anticipated to enter in later months. But Germany is facing continuous criticism on social media.

According to Reuters, Prosecutors in Hamburg have launched an investigation into the European head of Facebook over the social platform's alleged failure to remove racist hate speech, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor said on Tuesday.

The investigation was based on the current views and apprehension of many German politicians and celebrities, as they raised their voices over the anti-foreigner comments in German, not only on Facebook but also on other social media platforms as the country is trying hard to balance its economy after the incursion of about 1 million refugees this year.

As reported by The Guardian, Martin Ott, who is Hamburg-based Facebook's Managing Director Northern, Central and Eastern Europe was held guilty of not removing hate-filled comments over different social platforms, especially Facebook. This is not the first time incident like this happened. Last month, three other Facebook managers were convicted for the same issue and an investigation was launched against them following an inquest.

Earlier this year, chancellor Angela Merkel forced Facebook to act and the Justice Ministry wants to launch a mission force, joining hands with Facebook, internet service and other social networks. The common goal will be to point out the criminal posts and remove them instantly, the spokeswoman said. "We are at a very early stage," she added.

It's a tricky job to balance the permission free speech and removing the hate speech in the user's posts, as mentioned by Demanjo. Facebook said it was not saying anything on the status of a possible investigation. "But we can say that the allegations lack merit and there has been no violation of German law by Facebook or its employees," a Facebook spokesperson said.

Recently, Facebook revealed a partnership with FSM, a group which willingly monitors multimedia service providers, and said it would persuade its users to halt racism.