Berlin – The Federal Ministry of Justice has announced tougher action against messenger services. “Hate speech not only strains trust in digital communication, it can also attack the foundations of our democracy and community,” said State Secretary Christian Kastrop in the “Handelsblatt” (Tuesday edition).
Words are often followed by actions. “This is why digital arsonists must also be held firmly accountable.” Messenger services such as Telegram, which have not yet been covered by the so-called Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG), are to be regulated more strictly in the future. “We must not allow unchecked hateful comments or calls for violence to be made known through such channels,” said Kastrop.
Since the whole of Europe is struggling with hatred, agitation and dangerous misinformation on the Internet, a European solution is needed. The Ministry relies on the “Digital Services Act” (DSA) of the EU Commission. At the end of last year, Brussels submitted proposals for dealing with illegal content and dangerous misinformation, which also included messenger services, said Kastrop. Kastrop sees the need for action confirmed by a study that the ministry commissioned this Tuesday on the occasion of the nationwide “Safer Internet Days”.
The focus was on a survey for which more than 1,000 German citizens over the age of 18 were asked about their experiences with problematic content on social media and messenger services at the beginning of December 2020. In the survey reported by the “Handelsblatt” (Tuesday edition), a quarter of those questioned (24 percent) stated that they had already come across false information, hate speech or similar problematic content in messenger services. False information dominates (73 percent) over inflammatory (37 percent) and threatening content (26 percent). Despite the lower number of messenger cases, the study directors from the Berlin Institute for Consumer Policy warn against underestimating the finding.
In connection with messenger services, they also speak of the so-called “dark social”. These are closed chat groups on platforms like Telegram, where content spreads that is more likely to be deleted in the publicly accessible areas of social media. “From a social point of view, this phenomenon can have an enormous political impact if incorrect or manipulative content is passed on unhindered,” says the study.
