Internet
Insulting, threatening, harassing – hatred is widespread online
Federal Minister for Family Affairs Lisa Paus sees a need for more prevention against hate speech on the Internet. photo
© Michael Kappeler/dpa
No user is safe from hostility on social media – but some groups are particularly affected. Many people react by withdrawing from the internet.
According to a new study, people in Germany are becoming victims of insults, threats and sexual harassment on a large scale on the Internet. 49 percent of Internet users said they had already been insulted online – and 12 percent even said this happened frequently. Over 41 percent of people have had false things spread on social media. “Unfortunately, hate on the internet is omnipresent,” said the Federal Minister for Family Affairs Lisa Paus (Greens) at the presentation of the study in Berlin.
According to the study, a quarter of those surveyed were victims of sexual harassment or threats of physical violence – this even occurs frequently for 7 and 5 percent of those affected. More than one in five people have found personal information such as place of residence or address online against their own will. 42 percent of young women between the ages of 16 and 24 have received a nude photo without asking.
More hate online than before
“Hate on the Internet has increased in recent years, said Hanna Gleiß from “Das NETTZ”, an agency against hate speech on the Internet, which co-edited the study. More than 3,000 Internet users aged 16 and over were surveyed. 89 percent of them tell them that there is more hate online today than in the past.
“The youngest are most affected,” said Gleiß. Women are also disproportionately often the target of such attacks. When asked whether they had already been affected by hate online, almost one in three women between the ages of 16 and 24 answered in the affirmative. Among men of the same age, it is only about one in five. The proportions decrease with age.
Hostility because of views and appearance
According to the survey, people with a “visible migration background” and people with a homosexual or bisexual orientation are also particularly often exposed to hostility – around 13 percent of heterosexual people and 36 percent of bisexual people.
When asked what the online hate was about, 41 percent put political views at the top – followed by appearance (37 percent), their own physical or mental health (24 percent) or a migrant background (17 percent). .
Paus said that women, politically active people, Jewish, Muslim and non-white people are particularly often victims of hate online. The result, according to the study: those affected increasingly withdraw with their own posts and statements. 24 percent of all respondents stated that they had no longer used, deactivated or deleted their profile in connection with online hate.
Paus: Despite the reporting option, he is often “powerless” in the face of hatred
To combat hate posts, Federal Minister for Family Affairs Lisa Paus believes better prevention is necessary. In the ARD “Morgenmagazin” the Green politician also pleaded for better enforcement of rules by the authorities and help for those affected.
Although you can now report hate posts to the respective services, you have the impression: “It’s just a huge tidal wave that comes over you, and with every post you report, ten or 20 or 100 or 1,000 more are added “, Paus explained. “That’s why I also felt very powerless at times.”
Against this background, the Federal Minister for Family Affairs says she is happy “that there is now the Digital Services Act, which is now in force throughout Europe”. This law on digital services is intended, among other things, to ensure that illegal content such as hate speech is removed from the Internet more quickly after appropriate notices. Paus explained that Germany is also working on further national legislation: “On the one hand, we actually have to take another look at regulation and see what we can do better.”
With regard to enforcement, the authorities “must now be in a position to actually work there,” Paus continued. In addition, concrete help for affected people is important so that they can enforce their rights.