crime
Nationwide day of action against hate messages on the Internet
The police took action against criminal posts on the Internet with a nationwide campaign. Photo: Finn Winkler / dpa / Symbolbild
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The corona pandemic may have fueled the trend: hate postings online are booming – and the trend is rising. The police are now taking action against this in a nationwide campaign.
The police took action against criminal posts on the Internet with a nationwide campaign. Since Wednesday morning, a total of 90 police actions such as house searches or interrogations have been running in all federal states.
According to the Federal Criminal Police Office, this was the seventh day of action to combat hate postings.
Threats, coercion or hate speech on the Internet are criminal offenses that can be punished with up to five years imprisonment. “Not only the assassination attempt on the Kassel regional president Walter Lübcke or the attack on the synagogue in Halle show what can happen when perpetrators radicalize themselves on the Internet and the hatred turns into physical violence,” said the BKA, which coordinates the action.
“The number of cases of hate postings recorded by the police show a sharp increase again for 2020,” reported the BKA. Last year, 2607 cases of hate postings were registered, 71.1 percent more than in 2019. In addition, there is a large dark field. “Because many posts relevant to criminal law are not displayed or the security authorities do not get to know them because they are expressed in closed forums and discussion groups.”
The BKA has set up a new “Central Reporting Office for Criminal Content on the Internet”. Starting next year, it should also receive bundled reports of hatred and agitation on the Internet. The background to this is a change in the law that will oblige certain providers of telemedia services from 2020 to no longer just delete criminal content, but to report it to the BKA.