Hate crime on the Internet: the number of cases is increasing drastically
Created: 07/06/2022 15:59
By: Bernd Schlegel
The Central Office for Online Crimes in Lower Saxony reports 1,136 cases of hate crime on the Internet in one year.
The number of cases has increased fivefold.
Göttingen – Lawyers from the university town are successfully fighting hate crime on the Internet.
In the second year of its existence, the "Central Office for Combating Hate Crime on the Internet - Lower Saxony" (ZHIN) in Göttingen processed 1,136 cases - a fivefold increase in the number compared to the first year, as reported by hna.de.
Justice Minister Barbara Havliza (CDU) presented this result together with Braunschweig Attorney General Detlev Rust and Chief Public Prosecutor Frank-Michael Laue, head of the central office.
Hate crime on the Internet is on the rise: public officials are often targeted by the perpetrators
The central office for online crimes in Lower Saxony recorded more than 1,100 cases of hate crime on the Internet in one year.
The number of cases has increased fivefold.
(icon picture).
© Thomas Trutschel/photothek/Imago
A large proportion of the proceedings, a total of 257, concerned cases in which public officials and elected officials (e.g. mayors) were victims of hate crime on the Internet.
Another focus was on proceedings involving racist (60) or anti-Semitic (99) statements.
In addition to insults, the authorities also prosecuted criminal offenses such as the "use of symbols of unconstitutional organizations", public incitement to commit criminal offences, the approval of criminal offenses, but also criminal offenses newly created by the legislature.
This includes the dissemination of so-called lists of enemies or the "inflammatory insult".
According to chief public prosecutor Laue, hate comments are often related to current political and social events.
"Political measures to curb the number of Covid-19 infections are compared with the planned annihilation of the Jewish population under National Socialism," says the Göttingen lawyer.
The public prosecutor's office in Göttingen: This is where the central office for combating hate crime on the Internet is based.
© Swen Pförtner/Archive
The Star of David with the addition "unvaccinated" or the spread of the slogan "Vaccinate sets you free!" are examples of this from his point of view.
“There are calls for the killing of vaccinators, unpopular politicians are put defamatory false quotes in their mouths.
People 'celebrate' the murder of two police officers or show solidarity with the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine,” Laue gave examples.
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On the outcome of the preliminary investigations: In 28 percent of the investigations completed in the past twelve months, the central office brought charges or applied for a penalty order.
In 34 percent, the proceedings were handed over to another public prosecutor's office or discontinued for a fee.
In another 38 percent of the cases, the proceedings had to be discontinued because the statement was either not punishable or the author could not be identified.
Hate speech: The network poses problems for investigators
The public prosecutor's office does not always succeed in identifying the perpetrators.
"One of the reasons for this is that the operators of social networks, who are often based abroad, do not respond or respond only hesitantly to inquiries from investigative authorities, the IP addresses required to identify the perpetrator have already been deleted or it is simply not possible to prove which of several users is and the same device wrote the comment in question.”
In addition, according to Laue, not every tasteless comment is punishable: "Even offensive statements can be covered by freedom of expression, so that such procedures must also be discontinued."
Barbara Havliza (CDU), Minister of Justice of Lower Saxony © Holger Hollemann
Minister of Justice Havliza praised the work of the central office: "The Corona months have shown us how quickly people can lose themselves in abstruse worlds of thought via their digital devices, pushed by anonymous like-minded people.
The judiciary is countering the hatred on the internet,” said the CDU politician.
Central Office for Online Crimes in Göttingen offers quick help
The ZHIN offers private individuals, media companies, advice centers and other institutions the opportunity to report hatred and hate speech online quickly and easily.
Anyone who becomes a victim or witnesses hate postings, for example on Facebook or Twitter, can report this on the Internet so that such behavior does not go unnoticed.
Online lawsuits can be filed here.
(Bern Schlegel)
