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German court bans Uber from offering rides via hire cars

A German court on Thursday barred Uber from offering rides through car hire firms, saying it lacked a licence to do so, in the latest legal setback for the ride-hailing app.

German court bans Uber from offering rides via hire cars
Photo: DPA

A regional court in Frankfurt found that Uber's business model, which relies heavily on the use of vehicles from local car rental companies in Germany, violated several anti-competition laws.

The judges said Uber should have a rental car license of its own because it was more than just a go-between connecting drivers and customers.

“From the passenger's point of view, Uber is providing the service,” said judge Annette Theimer, pointing out that Uber set the prices and could pick the drivers.

The court also accused Uber of “not adequately checking” the car hire companies it works with, noting that not all drivers returned to their head office in between rides as legally required.

The ban is effective immediately but can still be appealed by Uber.

READ ALSO: Controversial ride-hailing app Uber launches in Cologne

It is the latest blow to Uber in Germany, where a court in 2015 banned it from letting non-professional drivers offer rides in their own cars.

The federal association of taxis and rental cars welcomed the verdict, saying the court “had made it clear that Uber's system is illegal in Germany”.

But Uber insisted customers could still use the app and said it would look at making changes to its business model to comply with the ruling.

“We will look at it closely and adapt our offer if necessary so we can continue to be there for our users and drivers,” tweeted Tobias Fröhlich, head of communications for Uber in Germany.

The Californian firm has long faced an onslaught of legal challenges in Europe, where taxi drivers have furiously accused it of not playing fair.

The popular app last month lost its London licence over what authorities called an “unacceptable” safety risk for passengers, after finding that trips had taken place with unlicenced, suspended or dismissed drivers.

Uber has vowed to appeal and continues to operate in London in the meantime.

In France earlier this month, an appeals court in Paris found Uber guilty of “unfair competition” and ordered it to pay a fine to taxi firm Viacab.

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French court orders Twitter to reveal anti-hate speech efforts

A French court has ordered Twitter to give activists full access to all its documents relating to efforts to combat racism, sexism and other forms of hate speech on the social network.

French court orders Twitter to reveal anti-hate speech efforts
Photo: Alastair Pike | AFP

Six anti-discrimination groups had taken Twitter to court in France last year, accusing the US social media giant of “long-term and persistent” failures in blocking hateful comments from the site.

The Paris court ordered Twitter to grant the campaign groups full access to all documents relating to the company’s efforts to combat hate speech since May 2020. The ruling applies to Twitter’s global operation, not just France.

Twitter must hand over “all administrative, contractual, technical or commercial documents” detailing the resources it has assigned to fighting homophobic, racist and sexist discourse on the site, as well as “condoning crimes against humanity”.

The San Francisco-based company was given two months to comply with the ruling, which also said it must reveal how many moderators it employs in France to examine posts flagged as hateful, and data on the posts they process.

The ruling was welcomed by the Union of French Jewish Students (UEJF), one of the groups that had taken the social media giant to court.

“Twitter will finally have to take responsibility, stop equivocating and put ethics before profit and international expansion,” the UEJF said in a statement on its website.

Twitter’s hateful conduct policy bans users from promoting violence, or threatening or attacking people based on their race, religion, gender identity or disability, among other forms of discrimination.

Like other social media businesses it allows users to report posts they believe are hateful, and employs moderators to vet the content.

But anti-discrimination groups have long complained that holes in the policy allow hateful comments to stay online in many cases.

French prosecutors on Tuesday said they have opened an investigation into a wave of racist comments posted on Twitter aimed at members of the country’s national football team.

The comments, notably targeting Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe, were posted after France was eliminated from the Euro 2020 tournament last week.

France has also been having a wider public debate over how to balance the right to free speech with preventing hate speech, in the wake of the controversial case of a teenager known as Mila.

The 18-year-old sparked a furore last year when her videos, criticising Islam in vulgar terms, went viral on social media.

Thirteen people are on trial accused of subjecting her to such vicious harassment that she was forced to leave school and was placed under police protection.

While President Emmanuel Macron is among those who have defended her right to blaspheme, left-wing critics say her original remarks amounted to hate speech against Muslims.

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