Right-wing Extremism Online – Targeting teenagers with stylish websites

Trends and Counter-Strategies

jugendschutz.net Report Cyber Hate 2008 Mainz 2009

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Contents

1 Effective Strategies against Right-wing Extremism ...............................................................................................................3

2 Right-wing Extremism on the Web – Trends 2008..................................................................................................................3 2.1 Overview: Ongoing high presence – strong increase in Web 2.0 – young look......................................................................................... 3 2.2 Hate speech hidden in video clips .................................................................................................................................................................. 3 2.3 Right-wing extremist propaganda in Web 2.0 on the rise............................................................................................................................. 3 2.4 Stabilization of NPD Web presence................................................................................................................................................................. 4 2.5 Extreme right-wing groups fuel youth related propaganda on the Net ....................................................................................................... 4 2.6 Numerous services ensure presence of right-wing extremists online........................................................................................................ 5 2.7 Majority of content still hosted in Germany ................................................................................................................................................... 6

3 Effective Action against Illegal Content...................................................................................................................................6 3.1 Amount of illegal content unchanged............................................................................................................................................................. 6 3.2 Contacting providers is most effective – also abroad .................................................................................................................................. 6 3.3 Inhalte YouTube and last.fm remove illegal content ..................................................................................................................................... 7 3.4 Shutdown of central neo-Nazi portals............................................................................................................................................................. 7

4 International Cooperation .........................................................................................................................................................7 4.1 INACH stabilized and expanded ...................................................................................................................................................................... 7 4.2 Hate in Web 2.0 - a problem across countries ............................................................................................................................................... 8 4.3 Educational strategies of INACH documented............................................................................................................................................... 7

5 Preventive Media Education .....................................................................................................................................................8 5.1 Concept for educating instructors approved................................................................................................................................................. 8 5.2 Sensitizing youngsters for right-wing extremist propaganda...................................................................................................................... 8 5.3 Educational booklet for 12-to 15-year olds released..................................................................................................................................... 8

6 Conclusion and Outlook............................................................................................................................................................8

7 Figures of Right-wing Extremism on the Internet ...................................................................................................................9

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1 Effective Strategies against Right-wing Extremism For right-wing extremists the Internet is one of the most important instruments of agitation. Nowadays they show up with modern, appealing, and often inconspicuous websites; specifically within Web 2.0 they target youngsters and lure them to dehumanizing ideas.

This report on the work 2008 shows that jugendschutz.net acts on different levels when it comes to right-wing extremism: Monitoring the web scene (chapter II) and action against illegal content (chapter III) are accompa-nied by international cooperation (chapter IV) and the promotion of media educational discussions (chapter V).

Over the past years jugendschutz.net succeeded in having more than 1,500 illegal extreme right-wing web-sites in German language shut down in Germany and abroad; furthermore 2,000 relevant videos and profiles could be removed from Web 2.0 platforms. The success rate reached 80 percent in 2008. In addition, the team developed media educational handouts and conducted more than 300 workshops with kids and adults.

jugendschutz.net's work in the field of right-wing extremism has been financed by the Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb) since 2007.

In four out of five cases jugend-schutz.net achieves the removal of illegal content

2 Right-wing Extremism on the Web – Trends 2008 2.1 Overview: Ongoing high presence – strong increase in Web 2.0 – young look

jugendschutz.net documented a repeated increase of extreme right-wing websites in 2008. The project team examined a total of 1,707 different websites (previous year: 1,635) and recorded more than 1,500 extreme right-wing videos and profiles in social networks and video platforms; i.e. twice as much extreme right-wing offences in Web 2.0 services as in the previous year.

Whereas the NPD1 appearance numbering 190 settled at a similar level as in the previous year, the number of websites in the context of regional neo-Nazi groups climbed to 321 during the year (299).

The increasingly inconspicuous and 'hip' appearance of neo-Nazis on the streets is reflected on the Net. Specifically the 'Autonome Nationalisten' ('autonomous nationalists') present themselves on their websites in a very modern style and turn to younger users with handy symbolism and slogans.

1,700 extreme right-wing websites and more than 1,500 offences in Web 2.0

2.2 Hate speech hidden in video clips

More than half of a total of 1,700 websites monitored by jugendschutz.net integrates sounds, videos or com-munication tools. This shows how important interactive and multimedia elements are for the extreme right-wing scene to disseminate their messages. Integrated music and films increase the attractiveness of websites and make it easier to approach users.

The two German portals 'Volksfront Medien' and 'Media Pro Patria' are two examples of film production com-panies from the right-wing extremist scene becoming more and more professional. They seem to be reliable and their very emotionalizing pictures and slogans specifically attract people from the mainstream of society. Other films have a convincing effect on youngsters through role models they can identify with, fast film cuts, straightforward language and clear messages.

From a youth protection point of view this is a worrying trend. In the least cases the videos disseminate illegal content; this means there is no basis for measures under media law. At the same time the subtle messages obfuscating racist, antidemocratic and historically false ideas are hard for youngsters to recognize and there is a risk that they take them for granted.

Music and films increase the attractiveness of websites

Production of propaganda videos becomes more professional

2.3 Right-wing extremist propaganda in Web 2.0 on the rise

The number of visitors in social networks and video platforms continuously rises and specifically young users feel attracted. Content posted in Web 2.0 services gets through to potentially far more youngsters than videos

Neo-Nazis use the reach of Web 2.0 platforms to approach young-sters

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1 German extreme right political party

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and paroles on individual websites do. Right-wing extremists take advantage of this wide range and abuse the platforms for disseminating their propaganda and to target youngsters.

Meanwhile there is also a large number of own established neo-Nazi Web 2.0 services. Next to video plat-forms giving users the chance to particularly post neo-Nazi hate videos without the risk of being blocked jugendschutz.net revealed the new phenomenon that numerous extreme right-wing social networks were founded in 2008. The spectrum ranges from small mainly virtual communities to groups with several hundreds of members also advertising for real-life meetings.

Additionally, a large number of websites are operated as Web logs. Blogs are easy to maintain, updated quickly and multimedia elements such as videos can easily be integrated. For the first time jugenschutz.net could document an own right-wing extremist blog service hosting 66 blogs out of the far right scene.

Meanwhile there are own right-wing extremist Web 2.0 services

2.4 Stabilization of NPD Web presence

During the reporting period jugendschutz.net documented a total of 190 NPD websites of which 184 were still online on December 31, i.e. the NPD remained on a similar high level as in the previous year (191 websites). Most of the websites came from North Rhine-Westphalia (30, previous year: 28), Bavaria (29, previous year: 28) and Saxony (27, previous year: 25).

Numerous NPD sites improved their professionalism. Here, jugendschutz.net could also state a multimedia approach targeting Internet users with integrated videos. Many NPD websites still relate to neo-Nazi groups; they link to other websites and campaigns from the far right scene.

jugendschutz.net also documented harmful content on NPD websites and objected to 15 cases; most of the respective content providers removed the offences.

Multimedia trend also on NPD websites

2.5 Extreme right-wing groups fuel youth related propaganda on the Net

The Web presence of right-wing extremist groups is relevant to the protection of minors because it links to the everyday world of youngsters and offers a wide variety of activities, music and recreation. Meanwhile this is part of an 'adventure world' which youngsters find themselves attracted to. However, it is never only a matter of fun and entertainment but always also of communicating antidemocratic, racist and historically false ideas.

In 2008, jugendschutz.net again documented more websites belonging to this spectrum and monitored a total of 321 websites in the course of the year (previous year: 299). Most websites could be allocated to the States of North Rhine-Westphalia (51, previous year: 46), Lower Saxony (23, previous year: 15), Bavaria (22, previ-ous year: 24) and Thuringia (20, previous year: 18).

Dehumanizing ideas wrapped in fun and entertainment

Again more websites of right-wing extremist groups than in the previous year

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This increase is also the result of the higher presence of autonomous nationalists on the Internet; jugend-schutz.net counted around 100 different web appearances in 2008. These action oriented networks are mostly recruited from younger neo-Nazis in the surroundings of right-wing extremist groups; in terms of their outfit (e.g. hoodies, baseball caps) they follow groups of youngsters around different youth cultural scenes and adapt their forms of action (e.g. graffiti, buttons and stickers with slogans, black bloc tactics at demonstra-tions). Their websites seem modern, they reflect a young lifestyle and they are masked with symbols and slogans to approach potential followers.

Autonomous nationalists show a young lifestyle on 100 websites

2.6 Numerous services ensure presence of right-wing extremists online

In 2008, the number of so-called neo-Nazi hosting providers offering web space specifically for like-minded persons has further increased. Meanwhile twelve such services ensure the structures of the extreme right-wing scene on the Internet. Additionally there are further extreme right-wing online services offering web design, production of own CDs, flirt communities or various other services all about organizing concerts and local activities (e.g. airbrush templates, graffiti stencils).

The number of Internet radios from the right-wing extremist scene offering live broadcasting partly available for download as music files climbed from 9 to 16 in 2008.

170 right-wing extremist mail-order companies sell music and other articles from the scene

Number of right-wing extremist online radios nearly doubled

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Furthermore extreme right-wing Internet shops are on the rise. In 2008, German mail order companies using the Internet as a platform for selling right-wing extremist devotional objects, clothing and music numbered 170 (previous year: 166). Most platforms could be allocated to Saxony (24 companies), Bavaria (19 companies) and North Rhine-Westphalia (17 companies).

2.7 Majority of content still hosted in Germany

The vast majority of extreme right-wing website operators continued to use German Internet services in 2008. However, there was a slight decline to 72 percent in comparison to the previous year (78 percent) and only 10 percent of the websites held illegal content (2007: 12 percent, 2006: 18 percent).

The dissemination of illegal content through US-American servers was on the rise again. In 2008, 70 percent (previous year: 63 percent) of content from abroad was posted from the USA. 8 percent (previous year 10 percent) of right-wing extremists made use of Dutch servers and 6 percent made use of Austrian servers as in the previous year. 78 percent, the majority of foreign websites with illegal content came from the USA.

3 Effective Action against Illegal Content A fundamental objective of the work of jugendschutz.net is to withdraw the online propaganda platforms of right-wing extremists and to remove illegal content from the Internet as soon as possible. As in the previous year jugendschutz.net achieved this in 80 percent of the cases. Direct contact with providers in Germany and abroad again turned out to be particularly effective.

In addition, jugendschutz.net initiated 26 requests to the Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons (BPjM) for websites being included in the index list. The dissemination of listed websites is restricted; such content must not be made accessible to children and youngsters. German search engine operators have committed themselves to omit indexed websites from their result lists.

jugendschutz.net initiates indexing in order to eliminate harmful content from search engines

3.1 Amount of illegal content unchanged

In 2008, the amount of illegal content on the Internet matched previous year's level at 16 percent. 77 percent of the offences violated criminal law showing insignia of unconstitutional organizations (67 percent), incitement to hatred (25 percent) or Holocaust denial (5 percent). jugendschutz.net classified 23 percent as harmful to youngsters.

Right-wing extremists continuously exploited foreign Internet services in order to disseminate illegal content – 54 percent (previous year: 38 percent) of illegal content was hosted abroad. In Germany, only one in ten websites contained illegal content (previous year: one in eight).

Rate of websites with illegal content at 16 percent

3.2 Contacting providers is most effective – also abroad

In 2008, jugendschutz.net once again was most successful by communicating directly with providers who subsequently removed illegal content or modified it according to the legal requirements (success rate of 90 percent). Only three cases had to be forwarded to the supervisory authority.

In Germany, providers are obliged to remove illegal content from their servers after obtaining actual knowl-edge (notice and take down); when it comes to offences abroad jugendschutz.net refers to a breach of the ISP's terms of service; usually racism and hate speech is prohibited.

Illegal German cases Illegal cases from abroad Total

Offline or relevant illegal parts removed after action taken by jugendschutz.net

141 58 199

Unchanged after action taken by jugendschutz.net 5 43 48

Total action taken 146 101 247

Providers from abroad also remove illegal content in real time

3.3 Inhalte YouTube and last.fm remove illegal content

Given the multitude of users and the huge amount of content uploaded daily there is a risk for children and youngsters specifically in Web 2.0 to stumble across hate speech very easily and fast. In Germany providers must delete illegal content as soon as they gain knowledge; however, they are not obliged to be proactive and search for harmful content or prevent the uploading of such content.

Meanwhile jugendschutz.net established good cooperation with Google/YouTube and could achieve the removal or blocking of 1,500 illegal videos in 2008. However, the presence of right-wing extremist propaganda on the Internet is constantly high because a re-upload of blocked videos is still possible.

Furthermore, jugendschutz.net took action against offences on the online radio last.fm in 2008. Here, jugend-schutz.net could also establish good cooperation with the operator resulting not only in the removal of illegal extreme right-wing content but also in the promise for the future to be more proactive and check profiles and music.

Specifically in terms of these youth related and far reaching services operators are challenged to use more resources in order to effectively eliminate the presence of extreme right-wing content by technical and editorial measures. jugendschutz.net will continue to follow the developments very closely and support operators in establishing effective measures.

1,500 illegal right-wing extremist videos and profiles deleted or blocked for German users

Providers have to do more in order to effectively ban illegal content

3.4 Shutdown of central neo-Nazi portals

It is difficult to take action against transnational neo-Nazi portals which either can benefit from a relatively 'safe' server location abroad or which are hosted at a so-called neo-Nazi provider. Nevertheless jugend-schutz.net tries to find approaches for removing propaganda platforms.

In 2008, jugendschutz.net contacted ISPs abroad and thus achieved the complete removal of two major neo-Nazi download portals. In both cases the dehumanizing content made available disappeared from the Net for several months. Although the portals have been reconstructed since the end of 2008 they could not retain significance for the far right scene anymore.

Successful achievements regard-ing major neo-Nazi platforms abroad also possible

4 International Cooperation The Internet has no borders. Internet services are available across countries and it is possible to post and download content from almost everywhere in the world. This international dimension of the Internet has to be considered when looking for ways to combat online right-wing extremist and dehumanizing propaganda. This is why the collaboration with partner organizations from abroad was an important element of the project work of jugendschutz.net from the very beginning.

4.1 INACH stabilized and expanded

The Network Against Cyber Hate (INACH) co-founded by jugendschutz.net facilitates continuous cooperation of international antiracist online complaints bureaus. The partners help each other to establish stable struc-tures, they share experiences on a regular basis and unite in the combat against transnational hate portals.

In 2008, the Belgian Centre Pour l'Egalité des Chances et le Lutte contre le Racisme and the Czech Helsinki Committee joined INACH expanding the network to 17 online complaints bureaus combating racism on the Internet. At the same time INACH is by now a major player in the discussion of solutions at international organizations (EU/OSCE).

4.2 Educational strategies of INACH documented

Under the title of 'Hate on the Net' jugendschutz.net published the results of the 2007 INACH Annual Confer-ence. jugendschutz.net organized this conference in Berlin focusing on media educational strategies against hate on the Net. The volume documents the speeches and on more than 100 pages it provides an outline of the problem regarding the level of dissemination of right-wing extremist and racist content on the Internet; additionally it gives an impression of the wide range of activities of INACH members in the field of media education.

Documentation of INACH confer-ence released, see Download

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4.3 Hate in Web 2.0 - a problem across countries

During the annual INACH meetings in Paris and Washington all partner organizations stated the massive dissemination of hate speech via social networks and video portals in 2008. This was the reason for discus-sions with representatives of the Internet industry on possible ways to prevent neo-Nazis from abusing Web 2.0 platforms. Everyone agreed that operators must demonstrate responsibility and invest more resources in proactive control.

5 Preventive Media Education Promoting a media educational approach towards right-wing extremism on the Internet is an essential com-plement to legal sanctions and the elimination of illegal content. There is still a high demand for information about the phenomenon, for support when organizing events and for concrete manuals. jugendschutz.net already developed concepts for the work in school and out of school, organized events and compiled media educational guidelines.

Promotion of media educational approach essential

5.1 Concept for educating instructors approved

With the same cooperating partners jugendschutz.net tested a training concept for instructors in school semi-nars. The participants obtained detailed basic knowledge and developed own concrete modules for their daily work. The successful course of these trainings showed examples of how to integrate the topic of right-wing extremism into teacher training programs.

Module for teacher training approved

5.2 Sensitizing youngsters for right-wing extremist propaganda

In cooperation with the German Ministry of the Interior and the State Agency for Civic Education in North Rhine-Westphalia jugendschutz.net conducted events for students and teachers informing about right-wing extremist propaganda on the Internet and possible counter-strategies. In 2009, jugendschutz.net plans to carry on with this concept.

5.3 Educational booklet for 12-to 15-year olds released

In 2008, jugendschutz.net, in cooperation with the State Agency for Civic Education in Hesse, designed and published a right-wing extremism booklet addressing the age group of 12- to 15-year-olds. Wrapped in the story of a clique of youngsters the booklet aims at informing the target group about right-wing extremism on the Internet. At the same time the booklet provides arguments and strategies for young users to defend them-selves against attempted luring and discrimination.

Release of booklet 'Klickt's? Geh den Nazis nicht ins Netz! – (Click - Don't get trapped by Nazis! - Summary-PDF)

6 Conclusion and Outlook The last few years of the project made clear that right-wing extremism is no short-lived phenomenon and that it will not disappear in real life or on the Internet in the near future. Thanks to the bpb financing the project jugendschutz.net was able to not only monitor the relevant extreme right-wing Web scene on a wide basis, but also implement and further develop counter-strategies at a legal and educational level.

More and more right-wing extremists use the Internet to lure youngsters with a modern and fashionable look and appealing content. Today there are more websites from the right-wing extremist scene than ever and racist and antidemocratic content in Web 2.0 is on the rise. Next to the steady and consolidated monitoring of right-wing extremism on the Internet this requires measures beyond just reacting to individual incidents and deleting illegal content (notice and take down); specifically in the rapidly growing social networks and video platforms which are very popular among youngsters.

More responsibility and sustain-ability necessary in Web 2.0 services

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7 Figures of Right-wing Extremism on the Internet Extreme right-wing content reaches an all-time high

- 1,707 right-wing extremist websites online

- More than 1,500 illegal videos und profiles documented

Success rate consistently high:

- In 80 percent of all illegal cases successful counter measures resulting in the removal of illegal content

Neo-Nazi groups and NPD strongly represented on the Net:

- Neo-Nazi groups: 321 websites (previous year: 299)

- Including 100 websites of autonomous nationalists

- NPD: 190 websites (previous year: 191)

Central extreme right-wing content consistent on the Net:

Still online on December 31, 2008:

- 90 percent of the total Internet content (previous year: 86 percent)

- 96 percent from the music scene, from extreme right-wing parties and publications (previous year: 92 percent)

- 81 percent from the neo-Nazi group spectrum (previous year: 77 percent)

Range of services of the right-wing extremist scene expanding:

- 170 mailorder platforms of right-wing extremists (previous year: 166)

- 16 online radios (previous year: 9)

- 12 neo-Nazi providers (previous year: 5)

- numerous other services ranging from Web design to flirt communities and own Web 2.0 platforms

Majority keeps on using German services:

- 72 percent (previous year: 78 percent) of extreme right wing content disseminated from German servers

- 70 percent of content hosted abroad exploit US-American services

Decrease in illegal content on German servers:

- 16 percent of all content assessed was illegal, matching the previous year

- 10 percent of content on German servers was illegal (previous year: 12 %)

- More than half of all illegal content was hosted abroad (previous year: one third)