Leipzig (dpa/sn) - According to a study by the University of Leipzig, more and more people are being affected by hate attacks on the Internet. The university announced on Monday that 24 percent of those surveyed had experienced insults, threats or hatred. Two years ago it was only 18 percent. "More and more people are withdrawing from public discourse out of concern about hate online," said Elisa Hoven, a criminal lawyer at the University of Leipzig.
Younger people were most often confronted with hate online: half of those surveyed between the ages of 16 and 22 said they had already been the target of hate comments themselves. According to the scientists, this indicates that this is a phenomenon that will continue to occur in the years to come.
In addition, hate comments have the potential to change public discourse as a whole, Hoven explained. Half of those surveyed stated that they were more cautious about their own posts on the Internet because of hate speech. "If people withdraw from the social debate and the so-called 'silencing effect' occurs, then ultimately nothing less than our democracy is threatened," stressed Hoven.
In May of this year, 1,013 people nationwide between the ages of 16 and 70 were interviewed online for the study. Scientists at the University of Leipzig have been observing the development of authoritarian and right-wing extremist attitudes in Germany since 2002.
