Young people are often unaware of how problematic sharing and receiving inappropriate content can be for them.
This currently primarily affects National Socialist content that is distributed on WhatsApp.
What kind of stickers?
In WhatsApp or other messenger services, in addition to text, you can usually send not only photos and gifs but also so-called stickers. These are reminiscent of classic stickers that you would find on scrapbooks. The content is usually cute illustrations of animals, hearts, memes or other humorous content. In addition, there are increasingly racist, misogynistic, anti-Semitic or anti-Islamic motives . that these can not only be very hurtful and malicious, but even illegal
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Who sends Nazi stickers?
Once such stickers have been created, anyone can download, receive and share them. Our experience shows that children aged 10 to 14 aware of and spread such stickers. These stickers also apply to an age where children and young people are usually not yet able to properly assess the content. History lessons usually only focus on the Second World War and National Socialist ideas in the 8th grade, and children are rarely taught about such content at home. Although they have little to no background knowledge of National Socialism , the children notice that such Nazi stickers etc. work well a provocation for adults And so they are shared – without the children knowing that the content is illegal.
Look – recognize – act
If adults stumble across such content on their children's or students' devices, they must take immediate action. The first step is to inform the children about the content, point out to them that it is prohibited content, delete it immediately and ensure that it is not shared. Attention: In order for the content to be truly deleted, it must be removed from the messenger (WhatsApp etc.), from the gallery, in the automatic backups (cloud storage!) and ideally also from the hidden files on the cell phone. It's best to disable automatic downloading in WhatsApp from the start .
Furthermore, you should definitely contact a specialized advice center and report the content:
- Hotline for questions about right-wing extremism of the Mauthausen Committee (by telephone on 0810 500 199)
- Extremism Advice Center (by telephone on 0800 2020 44)
- Stopline.at – for reporting National Socialist content ( here our step-by-step instructions )
What can the school do?
If teachers notice that such illegal content is circulating, they must definitely talk to the students about it . However, it can often make sense to talk about the Second World War and National Socialism in class before the actual curriculum - this can happen earlier in history lessons or in other subjects (for example in the context of visual education using problematic symbols). .
to talk to students about their responsibilities in WhatsApp groups Not all content is funny and harmless - much of it is not only malicious and hurtful, but even criminal.
In general, the following applies: Be attentive to what is currently affecting your students. If you are inappropriate content , be sure to take it seriously, as it is usually not an isolated case.
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What can the family do?
- Check with your children and find out how they too are affected by such illegal and disturbing content.
- Also point out the legal aspects: Make it clear that such content can have legal consequences. Depending on the age and type of involvement, these range from a cell phone confiscation by the police to an entry in the public prosecutor's business register to a criminal conviction.
- Explain to the children why content with a National Socialist connection is banned in Austria: Discuss the boundaries between racist incitement, re-activation and mere expression of opinion. Examples of parent-teacher discussions with young people can be found in the brochure “Klickt’s – Don’t get caught up in Nazis! ”
- Show your family that inhumane content has no place , e.g. B. in discussions about beggars, refugees, etc. Also show how you tackle such content online .
- Make sure your child has the latest WhatsApp update. This prevents you from being automatically added to groups and being confronted with such content. Take this opportunity to check their privacy settings on WhatsApp .
- Deactivate the automatic download of files And also check cloud storage etc. for unwanted content.
Article image: Saferinternet
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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 )

