Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet signed off on a raft of measures that in
particular target weapons sales and hate speech online.
Germany had already in 2017 passed one of the most restrictive laws in the world to combat racist and incendiary speech online, requiring social media giants to remove illegal content or risk fines of up to €50 million.
It came after the arrival of more than one million asylum-seekers since 2015 fuelled far-right propaganda, and gives companies such as Twitter and Facebook 24 hours to remove posts that openly violate German law after they are flagged by users.
Detractors have criticised the law as curbing free speech and putting internet companies in the role of censors.
The new legislation goes further, compelling internet companies to flag problematic content including death threats and incitement of racial hatred to police.
Law enforcement authorities will have the power to order online platforms
to provide them with user data in these cases for possible criminal prosecution.
"It has to be clear that the internet is not a lawless zone and that while free speech reigns in the digital as well as the analogue world, it reaches its limits when it breaks the criminal code," Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht told reporters.
The measures will also make it more difficult for firearms to land in the hands of criminals.
The domestic intelligence watchdog will review arms purchases to make sure the buyer is not a known sympathiser with radical movements.
https://www.thelocal.de/20191030/germany-to-tighten-hate-speech-and-gun-laws-to-fight-far-right
