Germany declares poking over Facebook illegal

After imposing a blanket ban on tagging pictures on Facebook, Germany has taken another 'concrete' step towards isolating social media users in that country. Germany has asked Facebook to disable the poke feature and given the company two weeks to comply with the diktat.

Hamburg’s data protection agency claims that the poke feature violates German and European privacy laws as well as people’s ability to control their private space. “The other day I when I logged in, nearly 13 people had poked me and 7 of them had thrown sheep at me, which in my opinion is an absolute disgrace. Today you throw sheep online and tomorrow you may graduate to throwing slippers offline on our highly respected and honorable politicians. Where will all this stop,” a German data protection official said.

Hamburg’s data protection agency has threated to impose an exemplary fine of $500 if the “illegal poking business” does not stop by the end of August. “Our chancellor has taken a serious view of the whole issue and we are monitoring Facebook. After August 30 if anyone is found poking around, we will take strict action against them,” the official added. Representatives from Facebook declined to comment on the development.