The European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS) Wednesday launched a lawsuit against Twitter in Berlin, Germany to determine if the company insufficiently moderated antisemitic tweets which could incite violence.

EUJS and HateAid filed the lawsuit with evidence of six antisemitic and illegal tweets that remained live on the platform despite having been reported which had been posted in the last three months. Holocaust denial, hate speech and antisemitism are banned in the German Penal Code at s130 and all relevant subsections. Although the EUJS have not released the quotes in question, as to not give them any further platform for harm, the groups reports that the tweets include antisemitic incitement and Holocaust denial. In Germany, the punishment for incitement, denial or approval of Nazism has an imprisonment period of up to five years.

According to the Center for Countering Digital Hate, Twitter only acted on 11 percent of content that incited hate. Twitter ‘s terms of service state that users agree to “form a binding contract with Twitter.” This civil lawsuit will test if the contract also legally enforces the moderation of content that includes sedition and hate speech. Twitter’s hateful conduct policy and abusive behaviour policy may regulate such content. The abusive behaviour policy even specifically names the Holocaust and states that Twitter will not tolerate the denial of mass murder events.

Since Elon Musk purchased Twitter in 2022, multiple accounts which were removed due to hate speech have been reinstated.