German security authorities are increasingly taking action against anti-Semitic hate speech online: Since the terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7th, the BKA has issued 273 orders to delete hate messages on channels such as X, according to the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
Since the terrorist attack by Hamas against Israel, German authorities have taken increased action against anti-Semitic hate speech on the Internet: According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the Federal Criminal Police Office issued 273 “removal orders” against channels or content on the Internet. The operators implemented these on time, a spokesman confirmed a report in “Bild am Sonntag”.
255 corresponding orders were sent to Telegram, 17 to X (formerly Twitter) and one order to Instagram. During the same period, the Federal Criminal Police Office sent a further 2,977 deletion requests to service providers, which they mostly complied with. “This approach serves to combat Islamist and anti-Semitic hate messages and terrorist propaganda in particular,” said the spokesman.
Faeser: “We have to stop the wave of hate”
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told “Bild am Sonntag”: “The hatred is fomented and fueled primarily online. We have to stop the wave of hate. That’s why we are taking consistent action against it with the Federal Criminal Police Office,” said the SPD politician.
The ministry further announced that, according to police information, 2,249 anti-Semitic crimes have been committed in Germany since October 7, 2023, of which 1,560 were related to the Middle East conflict. A ministry spokesman did not specify the date on which these figures were collected. However, he emphasized that these were preliminary figures – late registrations were possible.