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Fighting hate on the Net

May 9, 2017

Hate comments seem to be everywhere on social media. Private initiatives are taking up the fight against them. And politicians want to make laws against online hate. But what really helps to combat it?

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Image: picture alliance/dpa/F. Gentsch

Fighting hate on the Net

Insults, slander, even murder threats: hate speech is a worldwide problem on social networks. In Germany, Justice Minister Heiko Maas wants to legislate against it. In April, he presented a draft law to hold platforms like Facebook more accountable. Internationally, many initiatives promote netiquette. One is the Hamburg Facebook group #ichbinhier, which is nominated for this year’s Grimme Online Award. Group members respond to hate comments in a friendly but factual manner.