corona
Justice Minister wants to take action against incitement to lateral thinkers
Justice Minister Marco Buschmann: “Our constitutional state must take decisive action against the perpetrators”. Photo: Michael Kappeler / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Protests in front of the private houses of politicians, murder fantasies against them on Telegram: Politicians promise to take action against incitement by opponents of the Corona measures.
The new Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) has called for consistent prosecution of agitation by so-called lateral thinkers.
“Death threats, insults or insults, as they have recently been increasingly expressed from the scene of the so-called lateral thinkers, are unacceptable and repeatedly violate legal limits,” said Buschmann to the newspapers of the Funke media group. «Our constitutional state must take decisive action against the perpetrators. And he can do that too: with the means of criminal law. “
Incitement is getting sharper
The agitation by opponents of the Corona policy had intensified again in the past few weeks. In the communications service Telegram, after a ZDF report, murder requests against Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) appeared. In violation of the Corona assembly rules, protesters marched with torches in front of the private house of the Saxon Minister of Health Petra Köpping (SPD).
The heads of government of the federal states and the new Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) are in favor of stricter measures against the increasing corona hate speech and conspiracy theories on the Internet. The Prime Minister’s Conference (MPK) spoke out on Thursday that communication services that have actually developed into an “open social network with mass communication” should be legally “appropriately” regulated.
Telegram is a social network
The Federal Office of Justice takes the view that Telegram is not just a messenger service, but a social network. This means that Telegram has to adhere to the requirements of the Network Enforcement Act, such as Facebook and Twitter. This includes the establishment of an easily accessible reporting channel for criminal content and the appointment of an authorized recipient for requests from German courts. Therefore, two fine proceedings are pending against the company based in the United Arab Emirates. “The specifications of the Network Enforcement Act are binding – and the law does not recognize any blanket exception for messenger services,” said Buschmann to the editorial network Germany (RND, Friday).
SPD leader Saskia Esken calls for a tougher crackdown on calls for violence and murder on Telegram. «Calling for murder is a criminal offense and must be prosecuted by the authorities. These groups at Telegram are not secret and not closed, ”she told the RND. What is being disseminated there is open to observation and investigation by the authorities. “The police and the public prosecutor’s office must pursue this task more consistently, also in order to prevent subversive actions such as the attempt to storm the Reichstag building in August 2020, which has been openly announced online.”