by Cindy Harper, Reclaim The Net:

“Why should we block an entire country from accessing Gab because their government is sending us fines we won’t pay?”

Gab’s founder and CEO Andrew Torba said that his company will not be complying with the internet censorship demands of Germany, despite the mounting legal pressure and the threat of fines from the government.

Germany has a well-known history of censorship and has a social media regulation law called the German Network Enforcement Act, aka NetzDG. The law was passed in an attempt to police fake news and so-called “hate speech.” It applies to online platforms with more than 2 million users in Germany. It obligates platforms to delete “clearly illegal” content in less than 24 hours after a complaint is filed. Non-compliance with the law can result in fines of as much as 50 million Euro.