Hamburg/Berlin, July 20, 2023 (eig). “My family and I have been threatened on social media and via email; I’ve received messages containing violent fantasies and death threats; I’ve been verbally abused on the street; and when this old misquote resurfaced on social media, I told myself: not again! I turned to HateAidfor advice.”

Stefanie von Berg went through the hell of online hate eight years ago. She witnessed how the pure hatred that began on the internet escalated, culminating in vicious insults, and eventually followed her onto the streets and into real life. It all started with a quote that was falsely attributed to her following a debate in the Hamburg Parliament on education policy: “It’s a good thing that we Germans will soon be in the minority”—spread as a so-called “sharepic,” an image of the Green Party politician captioned with that very false quote.

Amid a heated debate on immigration, this statement in November 2015 was like pouring gasoline on the fire of critics of open migration policy. Yet the current head of the Hamburg-Altona District Office had merely described an expected demographic trend during a debate on education policy in the Hamburg Parliament. She said, “I believe that in 20 or 30 years, we will no longer have any ethnic majorities in our city,” and considered this a positive development. Her statement was made in the context of the need for education policy to adapt to such changing conditions. For the AfD parliamentary group in Hamburg at the time, this was reason enough to post her speech on YouTube and Facebook with the comment that the Green Party politician was “letting her guard down.” This then led to an unknown individual creating a shared image with the misquote—and the wave of hate took its course. At the time, the Green Party politician took no action on the advice of her media attorney, who dismissed the matter, saying there was nothing to be done.

When the Sharepic containing the misquote began circulating again on Twitter this past June, Stefanie von Berg was once again targeted personally. This time, she nipped it in the bud and reached out to HateAid.

HateAid is a nonprofit limited liability company (GmbH) that advises and supports victims of online hate and digital violence. The Berlin-based organization put us in touch with RKA Rechtsanwälte . The Hamburg-based law firm contacted Twitter, submitted a list of over 70 accounts that were spreading the misquote and photo, and demanded their removal—with success. Less than four weeks later, Twitter removed the posts, and the ordeal was over for the time being.

“Twitter is liable for content it disseminates if the platform becomes aware of legal violations,” explains Nikolai Klute, Stefanie von Berg’s attorney, explaining the swift response: “If the company then fails to take action, it runs the risk of being held liable itself.” Even better: If the platform is aware of legal violations, it must also ensure in the future that the shared image is not distributed again.

“Claims for damages may be brought against those who violate our client’s personal rights by disseminating the recording and the false quote,” said Attorney Klute, “and especially against those who then gleefully add insults and verbal abuse to the mix.”

RKA Attorneys at Law has therefore filed criminal complaints alleging defamation, slander, or insult against the account holders who shared the Sharepic.  These criminal complaints will be followed by the pursuit of civil claims, which—depending on the severity of the violation of personal rights—may also result in monetary damages amounting to four-figure sums. This is a costly endeavor for those who participate in online hate campaigns.

“My goal is to give courage to those who feel vulnerable, powerless, and alone,” explains Stefanie von Berg. Victims of digital violence are not alone. Organizations like HateAid are politically active to improve the situation of those affected; they raise awareness, provide advice, offer quality psychological support, and recommend attorneys who are well-versed in media law and can provide effective assistance.