Twitter Suspends Far-Right German Leader After Anti-Muslim Tweet

Twitter is taking new German laws against hate speech seriously, suspending a far-right member of the Bundestag for an anti-Muslim tweet.

Beatrix von Storch, a member of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party, tweeted on Dec. 31 that police in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia were seeking “to appease the barbaric, Muslim, rapist hordes of men.”

Twitter deleted the tweet from Von Storch, and suspended her account for 12 hours. Under a new law that went into effect on Monday, social media companies have 24 hours to remove hate speech or fake news that conflicts with German law. Companies can be fined up to €50 million ($60 million) if they don’t act quickly enough to remove inflammatory content.

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Twitter did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment on Von Storch’s suspension.

Von Storch was back to tweeting soon after her account was reactivated on Monday, though, sharing an email she’d received from Facebook. “Facebook has censored me now,” tweeted Von Storch, adding it was the “end of the rule of law.”

The Alternative for Germany party placed third in Germany’s parliamentary election in September, becoming the first far-right party to join the Bundestag in more than 50 years.

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