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It is made clear that “the Internet is not a legal vacuum”: this is how Justice Minister Alma Zadic (Greens) sees it, who on Thursday shared with her ministers the package – several times postponed – (“Law of Communication Platforms”) Against “Online Hate” They featured Karoline Edtstadler and Susanne Raab (both vice-president), as well as the head of the Green Club, Sigrid Maurer. The key design points:
Who is responsible: All “national and foreign providers of communication platforms”, but only 100,000 registered users per quarter or annual turnover of 500,000 euros in Austria. Trading platforms such as “willhaben”, online encyclopedias such as Wikipedia, and media companies are excluded.
How content is removed: Providers must establish an “efficient and transparent procedure” in which users can report illegal content using “readily available and readily available functionality” such as an online form.
Content must be removed within 24 hours of notification if the illegality “is already apparent to a legal layman”, and within seven days if a “detailed examination” is necessary. Suppliers are also obliged to appoint a contact person in Austria with “ordering authority”. Affected persons can use a form to initiate the investigation of the perpetrators by the court; the procedure is free for the first three years. On the contrary, there should also be a complaint procedure against deletions to avoid so-called “excessive blocking”.
Criminal threat: If users are not satisfied with the process, they can contact the KommAustria media authority. This can impose fines of up to 10 million euros for repeated violations. In the case of foreign companies without a registered office in Austria, an attempt should be made to collect the fine by “intercepting” the advertisers’ payments, for example.
Criminal law: Provisions against hate speech are also being refined. If so far only agitation against groups of people is punishable, it will be expanded to include agitation against people. “Cyberbullying” must be punishable from the first publication. A new criminal provision is being created against the recording of secret and unauthorized images of the intimate area (“upskirting”). The sentence: up to one year in prison.
OÖN-TV broadcast from September 3, 2020
With a new legislative package, hate cartels will be punished more quickly and severely. Aid from the country’s crown is working. This is the conclusion reached by economic experts today. And: presumably, the youngsters turn on in Kirchdorf. Two people are injured. Three uninhabitable apartments.
Upper Austria Governor Thomas Stelzer (VP) welcomed the legislative package as “one more essential step for fair cooperation”. There was criticism from the opposition parties. The SPÖ and FPÖ immediately complained that the responsibility for removing the content did not lie with the Austrian authorities, but with the large online companies. “Instead of Austrian lawyers, interns from large American corporations will judge Austrians,” interpreted FP’s constitutional spokesperson Renate Fürst. Katharina Kucharowits (SP) demanded the “creation of an independent state or body”. The Neos lack “precision”, they also criticize the limits for which the platforms are responsible as “too low”.
The law will enter into force on January 1, 2021, initially it will be evaluated. At the same time, it is available to the EU Commission for notification as it relates to internal market rules.
Article of
Heinz Steinbock
Startup Policy Editor
