(Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet approved rules for social media networks such as Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. that make it easier for users to report hate speech and access data.

Social networks will have to provide additional information on the origin of hate speech sought by users challenging it in court, according to draft legislation sent to parliament. The process of reporting threats and insults must also be simplified.

“Criminal hate speech can be the breeding ground for real attacks,” Ulrike Demmer, a deputy government spokeswoman, said at a news conference in Berlin.

The measures are a response to recent hate crimes in Germany. These included a shooting near Frankfurt in February in which 11 people died and an attack on a synagogue in eastern Germany last October, in which two were killed.

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