70 properties inspected for hateful remarks
Law enforcement agencies are conducting a comprehensive crackdown across the country to combat hate speech online. The vast majority of hateful content originates from right-wing extremists, but foreign and religious ideologies are also on the rise.
Police have been sweeping through apartments across the nation, apprehending individuals suspected of spreading hate and hateful rhetoric on the web. The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) revealed that over 70 searches were conducted and multiple suspects were questioned, resulting in more than 130 nationwide operations. A BKA spokesperson detailed, "We're taking this issue seriously, as we identified over half of the processed hate posts are linked to politically motivated incidents - specifically, right-wing extremism."
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser expressed the urgency, "We must put an end to the cycle of hatred and violence that festers online. The hatred borne out of the web is a catalyst for conflict." To combat this trend, the BKA has been collaborating with state police in a coordinated effort to combat hate crimes. Faeser praised the efforts, saying, "These 130 measures taking place in every federal state are precisely the strong response we need."
Particularly concerning are instances of Islamophobia and antisemitism, which glorify the terror of Hamas and deny Israel's existence. Faeser made it clear, "We're just as relentless in our response to right-wing extremist and anti-democratic hate speech, including postings with death threats aimed at officials and politicians in our country."
Symbols and Threats Against Politicians
Disproportionately, about a third of the cases involved politically motivated crimes that couldn't be definitively tied to a particular political stance. Some of these involved content from the "foreign ideology" and "religious ideology" categories.
Among the instances of criminal postings were hateful expressions and propaganda offenses that featured Nazi symbols or other swastikas. There were also antisemitic statements that referenced the Middle East conflict, such as the phrase "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free." This slogan (in German: "Vom Fluss bis zum Meer, Palaestina wird frei sein") can be interpreted as a rallying cry for the destruction of Israel, expulsion, and the complete eradication of the Jewish population. Furthermore, there were postings where politicians, officials, and office holders were threatened and insulted. "Some of the threats even included execution scenarios," according to authorities.
Registered Cases Spike
The number of registered cases of hate posts skyrocketed over the past year, the BKA reported. The number of cases rose from 3396 to 8011. The increments were even more noticeable in the areas of "foreign ideology" and "religious ideology," with a fourfold jump in registered instances. The BKA believes that a significant contributing factor is the increased awareness and vigilance fostered by the Central Reporting Point for Criminal Content on the Internet, a joint project involving the BKA and other partners.
In the battle against online hate crimes, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) urges citizens to report any such content they encounter or if they're the targeted victims of these malicious communications. They can also report them to the social network providers, the state complaint offices, or the media authorities in different states.
Read also:
Despite the crackdown, hate comments and propaganda perpetuating right-wing extremism and anti-Semitism, such as "Vom Fluss bis zum Meer, Palaestina wird frei sein," continue to proliferate on social networks. Police and the BKA are urging citizens to report these hateful posts and threats against politicians to help combat this rising issue.
