etze Right-wing radicals use Messenger to switch to Telegram
Secure and encrypted - with this promise, the WhatsApp alternative Telegram advertises. The messenger now has 200 million users worldwide. But encrypted also means that there is no control. That is why Telegram was a popular chat service for IS followers a few years ago. Right-wing extremists have now discovered the app for themselves. They can spread hate and agitation almost undisturbed in groups and channels.
by Julian Theilen, MDR AKTUELL
When a video of feminist activists in the Telegram group "Patriots of the Future Bund" is shared, user "Country Fan" writes: "People like the woman in the video above would have been beaten up in the schoolyard earlier, and rightly so. "
It is still one of the more harmless statements that circulate in the numerous right groups and channels at Telegram. Mostly, as with "Patriots of the Future Confederation", publicly viewable. Such hate messages have been around for a while on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. However, the platforms have been obliged by the Network Enforcement Act to delete them since 2017. For example, Martin Sellner, front man of the Austrian Identity Movement and Pegida supporter, was blocked by Facebook.
Sellner has almost 40,000 subscribers on its Telegram channel and posts links and videos daily. An original tone: "Especially after this agitation to Hanau, this staged, it would be an important signal that patriots are not intimidated even after Hanau."
Calls for genocide
Miro Dittrich, an expert on extremism on the Internet at the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, has been watching the messenger with the white paper plane in the logo for some time. He says: "Telegram is so attractive for right-wing extremists because practically nothing is deleted there. That means you can post swastikas there, deny the Holocaust or call for genocide. On the other hand, we also see direct murder calls with pictures of people there." International studies confirm this finding.
Not without pride, Telegram promises to "protect private conversations from third parties, such as government agencies." Users can encrypt their own cell phone number. This security encourages many right-wing extremists, Dittrich says: "People don't have the feeling of being prosecuted at all. They don't have to be afraid that the platform will block them. That's why we see there how disinhibited people really are, who often meet have to pull together online on other sites to speak more moderately. "
No access to closed groups
The Federal Criminal Police Office is currently watching 140 telegram channels. The BKA communicates this when asked by MDR AKTUELL. However, access to closed groups is difficult - or not possible. Telegram, based in Dubai, generally refuses to provide information, says extremism expert Dittrich. He sees the only way to make it clear to Telegram at international level that they have to comply with European laws if they want to operate in Europe.
Dittrich also suggests defining Messenger Telegram as a social network in the future. Then the Network Enforcement Act would also apply here.