German lawyer names Facebook´s Zuckerberg in hate-speech complaint

FRANKFURT:  German prosecutors are considering once again whether to press charges against Mark Zuckerberg and other Facebook executives for failing to staunch a tide of racist and  threatening posts on the social network during last year´s migrant surge.

Munich prosecutors have received a complaint filed by a German technology law firm two weeks ago alleging that Facebook broke strict national laws against hate speech, sedition and support for terrorist organisations.

A spokeswoman for the public prosecutor in Munich said a decision would be taken in coming weeks on whether to act on the complaint, which names the Facebook founder and chief executive as well as regional European and German managers.

Facebook had no immediate comment. Attorney Chan-jo Jun, who filed a similar complaint in Hamburg a year ago, is demanding that Facebook executives be compelled to comply with anti-hate speech laws by removing racist or violent postings from their site.

Jun is principal partner of the law firm Jun Lawyers of Wuerzburg in Bavaria. The move was first reported by German magazine Der Spiegel.