Facebook does not have to actively seek and delete defamatory posts linked to Anas Modamani, a court has ruled. The Syrian filed a case after his selfie with Angela Merkel was manipulated to link him to Islamist attacks.
Image: Getty Images/S. Gallup
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Facebook case leaves lots of open questions
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A district court in the southern German city of Würzburg ruled on Tuesday that social media giant Facebook is not obliged to seek and delete posts falsely linking Syrian refugee, Anas Modamani to crimes committed by other migrants.
"Claim is rejected, Facebook wins in front of Würzburg regional court," Modamani's Bavarian lawyer Chan-jo Jun wrote on Facebook.
Are you addicted to taking selfies? Or do you laugh them off as a trend among teenagers? For Anas Modamani one particular selfie proved to be life-changing.
Image: Anas Modamani
Meeting Angela Merkel
While in a refugee camp in Berlin Spandau, Anas Modamani heard that the German Chancellor Angela Merkel was coming for a visit and would be talking to refugees. The 19-year-old Syrian, who is quite fond of social media, went to take a selfie. He was hoping for the selfie to inspire a real change in his life..
Image: Anas Modamani
Escape to Europe
When Modamani's house in Damascus was bombed, he fled with his parents and siblings to a smaller city called Garia. That is when Anas fled for Europe in the hope that his family could join him there, once he had made it. He first traveled to Lebanon and from there to Turkey and then on to Greece.
Image: Anas Modamani
Dangerous journey
Anas almost died on the way. In order to get to Greece from Turkey he had to travel in a rubber boat, like most refugees. Anas says the boat was overcrowded and eventually capsized and he almost drowned.
Image: Anas Modamani
Five weeks by foot
From Greece Anas traveled by foot to Macedonia. He continued to Hungary and Austria. In September 2015, he reached his final destination: Munich. Once in Germany, he decided he wants to move to Berlin. He has been living there ever since.
Image: Anas Modamani
Waiting for an asylum
Upon arrival to Berlin, Anas spent entire days in front of the LaGeSo, a refugee center in the city. The 19-year-old says that the situation at the LaGeSo was difficult, especially during the winter. Eventually he was sent to the refugee center in Berlin Spandau. He wanted to raise awareness to his situation as a refugee and a selfie with Merkel seemed like the perfect chance to do exactly that.
Image: Anas Modamani
A family at last
Anas says that the selfie with Chancellor Merkel was a life-changer for him. He got a lot of media attention after the photo was published online, and that is how his German foster family became aware of him. He has been living with them for 2 months now. They have been supporting him ever since he became a member of their family.
Image: Anas Modamani
Missing home
Since living with the Meeuw's Anas is happier than ever before. He is doing a German language course, has made a lot of friends and is doing a lot of cultural activities. He graduated high school in Syria and wants to pursue higher studies in Germany. But his main aim right now is to be officially granted asylum and to be able to bring his family to Germany as well.
Image: Anas Modamani
Negative sentiment towards refugees
Anas is hoping for a good and safe life in Germany. But he is worried about the current sentiment towards refugees in the country. He thinks that the negative mood might escalate and have an impact on the laws in regard to refugees. Anas fears that he might not be granted asylum after all, thus ending his dream of bringing his family to Germany.
Image: Anas Modamani
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His photos went viral on social media almost instantaneously and even helped him find his German foster family.
Within a few months, however, his started to appear in conjunction with information about crimes committed by other migrants including the deadly Berlin truck attack in December.
"Whenever there's a refugee-related incident, he's trotted out as Merkel's model refugee, and the crimes are blamed on him," Jun said prior to Tuesday's verdict.
Syrian refugee Anas Modamani is now taking German language courses and working in a fast food restaurantImage: Reuters/R. Orlowski
No one should have to put up with that, so now "Modamani is fighting back," the IT attorney added, who has filed various legal complaints against the US social networking company, including demands that Facebook comply with Germany's hate speech laws.
Threats against lawyer
Modamani's lawyer Chan-jo Jun told Deutsche Welle he had recieved threats when defending the case.
"When you fight against Facebook, we found out, you have to take into account that Facebook will attack you personally, and I also learned that there are threats," he said.
"There were serious threats, people asked me to discontnue my activities against Facebook or else there would be harm done to me or my family."
He said Facebook had no incentive to remove photos which were driving traffic to the network.
'Fake news'
Facebook and other web giants pledged in December 2015 to examine and remove within 24 hours any hateful comments spreading online in Germany, in particular over the mass influx of 890,000 migrants that year.
Facebook was also attacked for its role in the spread of fake news, leading up to November's US presidential election. As a result, the company announced that it would introduce measures to take down "unambiguously wrong reports" being shared on its platform.
It said it would offer a simpler reporting process for users to flag suspected fake news, display warnings next to statements identified as false by independent fact-checking organisations, and cut off advertising revenue to fake news sites.
@dwnews - Famous refugee sues Facebook for fake news
