Germany set to force social networks to report hate speech to police

The German government has approved a bill to force social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to report criminal posts to the police, in a move that some critics say could pave the way for internet censorship.

Under the planned new law, which is the toughest of its kind in the world, social media platforms will not only have to delete certain kinds of hate speech but also flag the content to the Office of the Federal Criminal Police (BKA).

Posts that companies will be required to report include those...