Today, young people are not only increasingly becoming victims, but also witnesses to verbal violence, bullying and discrimination on online platforms. According to a study by saferinternet.at, almost half (48 percent) have had negative experiences online. Now the Mauthausen Committee Austria (MKÖ) is presenting the free app “Zivil.Courage.Online” in addition to the “Civil Courage TRAINING” and “Civil.Courage.Online” training projects already offered.

With this app, young people can approach the topic of civil courage on online platforms in a playful and interactive way and learn how to intervene with civil courage online. The Vienna Chamber of Labor supported the project as part of its digitalization fund.

The MKÖ has been working to promote and train civil courage for more than ten years. As part of the “Zivil.Courage.Online” training, the MKÖ – with financial support from the Vienna Chamber of Labor – has now also developed an app as part of the “Zivil.Courage.Online” project with which young people can independently train civil courage on the Internet. This app offers interactive exercises, videos, quizzes and argumentation training to counter cyberbullying, online hatred, fake news and conspiracy theories and to promote moral courage on online platforms. Experts such as Ingrid Brodnig, Margarete Boos and Malte Schütt designed the app together with the MKÖ.

“The demand and the positive feedback show the necessity of our offering of civil courage training ,” emphasizes Willi Mernyi , Chairman of the MKÖ, the requirement to continually develop the training offerings. More than 85,000 young people have already taken part in the MKÖ’s civil courage training.

Learn civil courage with the app

The app also shows examples of people who have successfully shown moral courage online or informs young people about their rights online, for example about their right to their own image or about crimes on the Internet such as cyber bullying or slander. It also shows how to report incidents on social media platforms and lists reporting points and hotlines that support online civil courage.

“The app is a helpful tool for practicing with children and young people how to react in challenging situations. Because we know from practice that this practice makes it more likely that young people in social networks will then know how to react and are therefore more likely to do so."

Barbara Buchegger, educational director of the saferinternet.at initiative

“The experience of the last few years in our training courses, as well as various studies, have confirmed to us how important it is to offer tools and training to promote civil courage on online platforms. Civil courage is also effective online, we just need the necessary options for action and the necessary self-confidence. We make this possible through our offers and we promote it with the new app.”

Christa Bauer , managing director of the MKÖ

“Civil courage – that means standing up for others, not remaining silent, but taking concrete action when you encounter injustice or grievances. This is one of the Chamber of Labor’s very own tasks; we do this in so-called real life, in working life, but of course also in virtual space.”

AK Vienna President Renate Anderl praised the AK's commitment.

“With our digitalization fund, we are putting people at the center of digitalization. Of course, this also applies when it comes to self-empowerment. Young people should understand that you don't have to put up with everything. That there are places and people who can help if you become a victim of hatred or violence and that you can take action yourself. Unfortunately, with the growing opportunities that the Internet offers, negative phenomena are also growing. For more respect in the digital space, we need young people, their voices, their courage, their knowledge, their ideas. This applies at school, in free time, on the Internet – and of course later in working life. Civil courage and solidarity are essential for a society. With the civil courage app you can train both.”

The app is now available for download in the Playstore and the App Store:
Download “Zivil.Courage.Online” app in the Google Playstore
Download “Zivil.Courage.Online” app in the App Store

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