Facebook has launched a European campaign to combat extremism and hate speech on the Internet, executives announced on Monday.

The social-networking giant started its “Initiative for Civil Courage Online” in Berlin, pledging over $1 million in marketing funding to put a stop to extremism on social media after a rise in racist posts following an influx of refugees, Reuters reports.

“Hate speech has no place in our society, not even on the Internet, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said in a statement. “Facebook is not a place for the dissemination of hate speech or incitement to violence.”

The initiative for “civil courage” comes after criticism that Facebook doesn’t enforce its rules that forbid bullying, harassment and threatening language. Facebook has also hired a firm to monitor and delete racist posts on its platform in Germany, according to Reuters.

The Leadership Brief. Conversations with the most influential leaders in business and tech. Please enter a valid email address. Sign Up Now Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thank you! For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.

Contact us at letters@time.com.