Politicians are insulted and threatened on social media, but they are also increasingly at risk in real life. This is what the head of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), Holger Münch, reported in an interview with RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND).
“If we look at the development this year, we see another significant increase in the number of cases in the case of criminal offences against public officials and elected representatives compared to last year,” said Münch.
We see that polarization continues to increase – and that crimes are also being committed more frequently by those on the left.
Holger MuenchHead of the Federal Criminal Police Office
The BKA chief recognizes a clear trend: “We see that polarization continues to increase – and that more crimes are being committed by the left. For example, from the beginning of May to the end of July we counted 18 cases of physical assault, dangerous physical assault and arson against members of the AfD. Representatives of the Green Party are still the most frequently attacked. But the AfD comes in second.”
“The situation is very tense,” Münch continued. “And it could get even worse. It is important that we send out signals. Local politicians only report attacks in about eleven percent of cases. That is far too few.”
There is clearly a lack of trust. Trust that the investigations will yield results. “That is why we must send the signal that the law enforcement authorities are capable of consistently pursuing such crimes. 20 percent of the local politicians surveyed are considering whether to resign from office due to hostility or to run for office again. That is a high number,” said Münch.
Münch sees problematic content on social media as a factor in the radicalization of people. “We have clearly identifiable risks for society here.
That is why we need to introduce corresponding obligations for social media, so that providers themselves search for, report and delete justiciable content, hate and incitement,” said Münch. If people only receive one-sided information, social media could become a “catalyst for radicalization.”
BKA chief Münch accuses online services
The BKA president considers the results of the so-called Digital Services Act, which requires large online services to report criminally relevant content, to be disastrous. His agency has only received 61 reports within a year. Münch complained: “They are definitely not living up to their responsibility. And we cannot enforce any other behavior because there is no fine regulation.”
The regulation must also be expanded to include recommendation algorithms. “It cannot be the case that people only receive one-sided information when they ask for specific information. Then social media becomes a catalyst for radicalization,” warned the BKA chief.
Finally, the problem is that the evaluation of the Digital Services Act is not due to take place until 2026, he said, adding: “We at the BKA say: We don’t have that much time. It has to happen faster. So far, we have not been able to get the big providers to sign up. Where companies don’t want to, we have to encourage their will, including with fines.” (lem)
