Employees of German Environmental Aid are repeatedly exposed to hatred and incitement in certain Facebook groups. Meta has so far refused to close these groups. Now German Environmental Aid is suing the US company.

Press release from German Environmental Aid

German Environmental Aid Federal Managing Director Resch is suing for the closure of Facebook groups in which calls for violence and murder are regularly made

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

+++ Negotiation date postponed to April 13, 2023. +++

  • The lawsuit against Facebook parent company Meta will be heard on March 28th at the Berlin Regional Court
  • Facebook refuses to close a group with more than 50,000 members administered by employees in the automotive industry, in which threats of violence and death are repeatedly posted and sometimes remain for weeks
  • More than 300 criminal complaints and all previous contacts with Meta have not led to an end to the threats against DUH employees
  • Great solidarity: Non-governmental organizations such as HateAid, Foodwatch, Amadeu Antonio Foundation and celebrities such as Carola Rackete, Katja Diehl, Carla Reemtsma, along with thousands of citizens, are supporting the lawsuit

On March 22, 2023, German Environmental Aid (DUH) presented a lawsuit against Facebook parent company Meta, which will be heard on April 13 before the Berlin Regional Court. In it, DUH Federal Managing Director Jürgen Resch, as plaintiff, demands that the social media giant Meta close Facebook groups such as “Stop the German Environmental Aid (DUH)!”, in which he and other DUH employees are regularly massively insulted and persecuted and even threatened with violence, torture, murder and specific attacks during public appearances.

A new quality of threat is the call for violence at publicly known appearances, such as a few weeks ago at an event on “diesel lawsuits for climate protection” in southern Germany.

The event was announced through a post and commented on in 80 posts. There were calls for people to visit the event and for violence, ranging from poisoning the food to disgusting violent fantasies.

In another post, the calls for violence escalated to the point where a photo of six cartridges was shown with the caption: “Goes in the ear, stays in the head – Heckler & Koch” . Such posts are not deleted by the moderators or administrators of the Facebook group, but remain published for weeks or months.

“We will no longer tolerate the persecution and threats in such social media groups. Instead, we are now taking action against the platform operator who makes the digital space available. Because it doesn't just affect me and my colleagues at German Environmental Aid. Many people become victims of such hate groups and their threats simply because they are involved in civil society, for example in climate and environmental protection. And due to very real threats, shell casings sent and police actions triggered, I unfortunately know only too well that hate speech and persecution in these groups does not only remain digital, but can very easily spill over into the real world. Radicalization in such protected spaces and groups must be stopped.”

DUH Federal Managing Director Jürgen Resch

“Meta argues that the plaintiff can report hate comments and also file criminal charges. According to this logic, Mr. Resch would have to spend several hours every day searching through the relevant groups, reading the latest fantasies of violence against him, marking them, entering them into a form and then waiting to see whether Meta or the public prosecutor's office would take action. That is unreasonable. With the lawsuit we want to ensure that Meta no longer shifts responsibility onto the victims, but rather removes the breeding ground for hatred in its networks.”

Attorney Juliane Schütt

Due to the great importance that such Facebook groups have in cases of hate speech and threats against activists, more and more people are supporting Jürgen Resch and the lawsuit.

The organizations HateAid, Foodwatch, Goodbye Hate Speech, No Hate Speech Movement, ichbinhier, meldestelle respect, SOS Humanity, Digitale Helden and the Amadeu Antonio Foundation have declared their solidarity. Prominent activists such as Carola Rackete, Carla Reemtsma, Tupoka Ogette and Katja Diehl also support the process.

“Every day people are insulted and threatened because they are committed to issues such as environmental and climate protection. Instead of taking decisive action against calls for violence and hate speech, platforms give hatred a stage. That’s why this lawsuit is so important: If companies like Meta don’t voluntarily protect us, the courts must make them do so.”

Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, Managing Director of HateAid

“Through my work for the intersectional mobility transition, I receive hatred and even death threats from all social groups. My voice will not fade away because of this. But too many victims cannot muster this strength because there is a lack of legal and social protection. That needs to change!"

Activist and author Katja Diehl

All people are called upon to join Katja Diehl and the thousands of other supporters and to cast their vote against hate groups in which people are intimidated and threatened www.duh.de/meta-klage/

Left:

Contact:

Jürgen Resch, Federal Managing Director DUH
0171 3649170, [email protected]

Juliane Schütt, LUMENS Lawyers
[email protected]

Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, Managing Director HateAid
030 25208837, [email protected]

In keeping with the topic: This is hate speech

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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )