1930s in social media

by DoDo Tue Aug 11th, 2015 at 03:30:08 AM EST

After the surrender of the Syriza government in the Eurozone vs. Greek democracy battle, the focus of European public opinion shifted to the new wave of refugees. And it gets even uglier than in the case of Greece. Especially in Germany, where xenophobia in public speech is fast on its way to catch up with and surpass Britain or the Netherlands, now going into terrorism territory. Last week, the outspoken commentary of a German TV journalist triggered a debate on on-line racism:

German TV presenter sparks debate and hatred with her support for refugees | World news | The Guardian

Anja Reschke used a commentary slot on Tagesthemen, the nationwide news bulletin of German public broadcaster ARD,to lambast hate-filled commentators whose language she said had helped incite arson attacks on refugee homes.
She said she was shocked at how socially acceptable it had become to publish racist rants under real names.
"Until recently, such commentators were hidden behind pseudonyms, but now these things are being aired under real names," she said.

In a follow-up interview in Die Welt (of all places), Reschke says:

Anja Reschke über ihren "Tagesthemen"-Kommentar zu Flüchtlingen - DIE WELT		Anja Reschke on her "Tagesthemen" commentary about refugees - DIE WELT
...Wir Journalisten kriegen irre viele Zuschriften, und ich finde, dass sich der Ton im letzten Jahr massiv verschärft hat. Das ging mit der Ukraine und Griechenland los und weiter mit Pegida und den Flüchtlingen. Man wird regelrecht überschwemmt mit üblen Kommentaren.		...We journalists get a ridiculous amount of letters, and I feel the tone has worsened massively in the last year. This started with Ukraine and Greece and continued with Pegida and the refugees. We are downright swamped with nasty comments.

This is interesting for two reasons: one, Reschke acknowledges (even if passingly) the uninhibited xenophobic anti-Greece hate-mongering and connects it to what is traditionally and more widely recognised as racist hate-mongering; two, she claims an escalation based on something quantifiable (hate mail received by journalists).

As for publishing racist rants on-line under real names, Reschke is not the only one writing about this. In a commentary on SpiegelOnline, Sascha Lobo not only says that a new wave of arson attacks on refugee homes would deserve the "terrorism" tag, but extends it to the self-reinforcing on-line movement of 'alarmed citizens' who now set up closed Facebook groups to warn each other about the appearance of foreign-looking people in their neighbourhood.

Media critic Thomas Lückerath tried to get Facebook to take down racist postings, including ones calling for outright murder, but was rebuffed in each single case, with ridiculous arguments (the postings they do bother to take down are erotic ones).

Meanwhile, another on-line activist, Heinrich Schmitz, declared surrender after someone called police in his name, telling them "he" just killed his wife, leading to a police search. Schmitz thinks this attack was a reaction to his public support for the re-launch of a petition against refugee home attacks, which was first taken down by its original initiator after an anonymous caller threatened to kill his family members, citing their names and addresses. Schmitz justifies his provocative surrender with losing hope in his cause, seeing the meagre public support for pro-refugee activism and the reluctance of personal friends to take risks against the angry mob.

Rechte Hassbürger und Meinungsfreiheit: Nicht mehr den Arsch aufreißen für meine lieben Mitbürger - Politik - Tagesspiegel		Right-wing hate citizens and freedom of opinion: No more busting my ass for my dear fellow citizens - Politics - Tagesspiegel
Ich habe kapiert, dass die ,,schweigende" Mehrheit der Bevölkerung am liebsten ,,schweigt". Dass sie keineswegs mit dem Hass auf den Straßen einverstanden ist, aber lieber hinter den Gardinen steht, statt selbst auf die Straße zu gehen. Dass die Frau an der Spitze dieses Landes das Schweigen zur Regierungsmaxime erhoben hat und sich gerade deshalb alternativloser Beliebtheit erfreut. Dieses Schweigen wird über kurz oder lang zu einem ,,Schweigen der Lämmer" werden. Es soll dann nur niemand behaupten, er hätte nichts gewusst oder er habe nichts tun können. Ich habe es oft genug gesagt. Das ist jetzt vorbei.		I understood that the "silent" majority of the population prefers "silence". That they don't agree with the hatred on the streets at all, but will rather stand behind the curtains than going on the street themselves. The fact that the woman on top of this country elevated silence to with the government's maxim and enjoys a popularity without alternative for just that reason. This silence will be sooner or later turn into a "silence of the lambs". But no one should then claim that he had known nothing or he couldn't do anything. I've said it often enough. That's over now.

1930s in social media | 91 comments (91 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Seed comment (4.00 / 5)

I should note the different perspective I have on this: that escalation of on-line racist hate and the withdrawal of the silent majority(?), unchecked (or even fuelled) by the 'centre'-right and on-line media, happened in Hungary about a dozen years earlier.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Tue Aug 11th, 2015 at 03:31:25 AM EST

Re: Seed comment (4.00 / 4)

More explicit Greece link, from another of Spiegel's on-line pundits:

Flüchtlingspolitik in Europa: Der Rassismus war nie fort - SPIEGEL ONLINE		Refugee policy in Europe: Racism was never away - SPIEGEL ONLINE
Wenn man aber, wie gerade in der Griechenlandkrise, auf einmal wieder nationalistische und rassistische Vorurteile verwendet, darf man sich nicht wundern, wenn in diesem hämischen bis hasserfüllten Geist auch auf Flüchtlinge reagiert wird. Wenn man nur von Regeln redet und nicht von Hilfe, wie in der Euro-Krise, dann muss man sich nicht wundern, wenn dieses Reden auch auf die angewendet wird, die in Not sind.		If however, as just done in the Greece crisis, you are using nationalist and racial prejudice once again, then you should not be surprised if people react to refugees in the same sardonic to hateful spirit. If you only talk about rules and not about help, as in the euro crisis, then you should not be surprised if this speech is also applied to those who are in need.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Tue Aug 11th, 2015 at 05:19:41 AM EST
[ Parent ]

In the USA (4.00 / 3)

I have censored myself on Facebook here in the USA because I don't want to get into vituperative flame wars about abortion as the Repugnant Party here slides over into no abortions, no exceptions, no value to the lives of women campaign policies.

Having a couple of Republican Facebook friends, I notice that whenever I say something critical of the Party's policies, there is an almost immediate personal attack. The object is to insult me, the person, without any real response to the issue or my criticism of it.

I am more careful now as a) I don't want to get caught up in such a waste of time and b) I don't want to set myself up as a target.

Watching the EU refugee situation from a distance, partially because it's a clear result of US policies in the Middle East and because it's a global problem which will only get worse as climate change kicks in harder.

Time to reread Sebastian Haffner's Defying Hitler?

Solar IS Civil Defense

by gmoke on Tue Aug 11th, 2015 at 04:58:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: In the USA (none / 0)

Time to unfriend your Republican friends. Anyone who responds to a policy debate with a personal attack needs to grow up. The problem, to date, is that there have been no consequences for those who mouth right wing or racist stupidities, and such stupidities will continue until those consequences mount.

Index of Frank's Diaries

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Tue Aug 11th, 2015 at 07:40:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Unfriending (none / 0)

The only person I unfriended on Facebook was someone I know fairly well who, at the height of the Iraq Stupidity, was making "jokes" that felt more like threats.

Now I ignore the personal insults (although I'm surprised why people feel the need to argue by insult and play debate as a blood sport to hurt your feelings rather than destroy your arguments) and try to be measured and polite. So far, that's worked in keeping a dialogue going.

I'm looking for places of agreement, if at all possible.

Solar IS Civil Defense

by gmoke on Wed Aug 12th, 2015 at 10:05:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: In the USA (4.00 / 2)

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Wed Aug 12th, 2015 at 07:32:46 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: In the USA (4.00 / 2)

Propaganda works.

Goebbels and the Nazis learned quite a lot from Edward L Bernays and Ivy Lee. They tapped into something deep that's still active.

We are seeing the same thing here with "Mexican" migrants. Some Republicans even approach exterminationist rhetoric towards Democrats as well. Everybody is the enemy or the ENEMY on the eve of Armageddon, and many here take the Bible literally (at least in public) and are primed for the Second Coming, The Rapture, and Heaven. Permanent crisis for the adrenaline rush in the Society of the Spectacle.

Solar IS Civil Defense

by gmoke on Wed Aug 12th, 2015 at 10:14:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: In the USA (4.00 / 3)

Goebbels and the Nazis learned quite a lot from Edward L Bernays and Ivy Lee.

Edward Bernays - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In his 1965 autobiography, Bernays recalls a dinner at his home in 1933 where
Karl von Wiegand, foreign correspondent of the Hearst newspapers, an old hand at interpreting Europe and just returned from Germany, was telling us about Goebbels and his propaganda plans to consolidate Nazi power. Goebbels had shown Wiegand his propaganda library, the best Wiegand had ever seen. Goebbels, said Wiegand, was using my book Crystallizing Public Opinion as a basis for his destructive campaign against the Jews of Germany. This shocked me. ... Obviously the attack on the Jews of Germany was no emotional outburst of the Nazis, but a deliberate, planned campaign.^[30]

`Poison Ivy' Lee and propaganda

The second principal accusation against Ivy Lee is based on the well-documented fact that Lee acted as an unpaid public relations adviser to Nazi Germany in the early 1930s.
Miller and Dinan cite sources that record a meeting between Ivy Lee and both Adolf Hitler and German Foreign Minister Herman Goebbels during a visit to a German business client in 1934. According to the reports Lee was introduced to the Nazi ministers by Dr Max Illgner, the Managing Director of I.G. Farben, whose company he was advising at the time (Hiebert, 1966).
Lee reportedly advised Goebbels to cease propaganda efforts in the United States and urged him to meet personally with foreign diplomats and press in an effort to establish better relations with them. According to the US Ambassador to Berlin at the time, William Dodd, Goebbels followed that advice to the letter in the course of a conciliatory speech

You learn something new every day!

Everybody is the enemy or the ENEMY on the eve of Armageddon, and many here take the Bible literally (at least in public) and are primed for the Second Coming, The Rapture, and Heaven.

Sadly, you don't need Millenarianism. You know what was the biggest shock for me on 9/11? At the time, I frequented an atheist forum that was international but dominated by Americans. And suddenly, a couple of fellow posters, even friends, whom (I thought) I knew well from years of discussions and who seemed rational up until then switched into "nuke Afghanistan" mode, and it became clear they mean it as the forum descended into flame wars. Then after the Cheney-Bush regime and Faux News ratcheted up the propaganda drive, these same people turned into full-on hate-mongers who could discuss nothing else. (IMHO there was a connection to the fundies: in my observation many of the most doctrinaire American atheists are ex-fundies turned libertarians who are seething with anger at the lies they were told as children but don't notice that some of the attitudes remained.)

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Thu Aug 13th, 2015 at 03:42:41 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Bernays (4.00 / 3)

I tried to arrange a dialogue for the local public access TV between Chomsky and Bernays once upon a time. Approached both men and got an initial agreement. In preparation read Bernays' autobio, Biography of an Idea: Memoirs of Public Relations Counsel. Bernays said he admired Chomsky but asked for a copy of Chomsky's book, Manufacturing Consent, before setting a date. I bought a copy and gave it to him but, after reading it, Bernays backed out.

If memory serves, Bernays met Goebbels in the 1920s and Goebbels expressed his admiration for Propaganda, another book by Bernays.

Permanent crisis
for the adrenaline rush
in the Society of the Spectacle.

That seems to be how it works.

Solar IS Civil Defense

by gmoke on Thu Aug 13th, 2015 at 03:43:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Aufstand der Anständigen (4.00 / 5)

There is one angle of this debate in Germany which I ought to add.

Back in 2000, there was a fire-bombing of a synagogue in Düsseldorf. Then chancellor Gerhard Schröder reacted by calling for an Aufstand der Anständigen, that is, an "uprising of decent people", which led to the organisation of several protests (which ended when two Arab-Germans were caught as culprits). In her TV commentary, Anja Reschke called for another Aufstand der Anständigen.

What remains to be seen is whether a second large-scale Aufstand der Anständigen will now form. It didn't happen over Greece or Pegida (and Merkel is no Schröder to call for it).

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Tue Aug 11th, 2015 at 05:39:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (4.00 / 2)

Gauck could call for it, too.

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Aug 12th, 2015 at 04:02:11 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (none / 1)

Ah, Gauck...

By Merkel's logic, one disincentive is that it would mean conflict with the Bavarian CSU. And, as Süddeutsche said:

Ressentiments gegen "Armutsflüchtlinge" - Viel zu tun für die Anständigen - Kultur - Süddeutsche.de		Resentment against "poverty refugees" - much to do for the decent ones - Culture - Süddeutsche.de
Der Appell von Fernsehjournalistin Anja Reschke gegen Fremdenhass könnte verpuffen - weil die Ressentiments etwa von der CSU verstärkt werden.		The appeal of television journalist Anja Reschke against xenophobia could fizzle out - because the resentment is being amplified by the CSU, for example.
...Ressentiments gegenüber den sogenannten Armutsflüchtlingen, von denen sich viele, nicht nur Hardliner, wünschen, dass sie unser Land auf schnellstem Weg wieder verlassen, werden von der gegenwärtigen Politik nicht etwa hinterfragt, sondern oft sogar verstärkt. Etwa durch die CSU, die schon Anfang 2014 eine sachlich kaum zu begründende Kampagne gegen Einwanderer aus den EU-Ländern Rumänien und Bulgarien startete und zuletzt spezielle Abschiebelager für Flüchtlinge vom Westbalkan ankündigte.		... Resentment towards the so-called poverty refugees - who face the desire of many, not only hardliners, to leave our country again in the fastest way possible -, are not just not challenged by current politicians, but often even amplified. For example, by the CSU, which launched a hardly justifiable campaign against immigrants from the EU countries Romania and Bulgaria back in 2014 already and just recently announced last special deportation camps for refugees from the Western Balkans.

And now there is this:

Kritik an Alexander Reissl - München - Süddeutsche.de		Criticism of Alexander Reissl - Munich - Süddeutsche.de
Aussagen des Münchner SPD-Fraktionsvorsitzenden Alexander Reissl zur Flüchtlingssituation sind innerhalb seiner Partei auf heftige Kritik gestoßen. "Wir sollten nicht suggerieren, dass alle Flüchtlinge bei uns willkommen sind", sagte Reissl und forderte, zwischen verschiedenen Flüchtlingen zu differenzieren. SPD-Parteikollegen zeigten sich am Dienstag verärgert bis entsetzt über diese Aussagen und betonten, dass die Haltung Reissls keineswegs der Meinung seiner Fraktion entspreche.		Statements of Munich SPD faction leader Alexander Reissl about the refugee situation met upon strong criticism within his own party. "We should not suggest that all refugees are welcome here", Reissl said, urging to differentiate between different refugees. On Tuesday SPD party comrades showed themselves angry to appalled by these statements and stressed that the Reiss's attitude does not correspond the opinion of his faction at all.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Wed Aug 12th, 2015 at 05:31:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (4.00 / 2)

Well, if it was only Bavaria... It isn't. Here is the CDU Saxonia demanding a "discussion" of Schengen, and trying to be at least as tough on refugees as the AfD which has been doing the same all along. And it is not only Bavarian SPD politicians who cosy up to the racists: The SPD in general is careful not to exclude racists and racism. Fascism always grows in the centre of a society, not on the margin.

by Katrin on Thu Aug 13th, 2015 at 04:00:48 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (4.00 / 3)

And Sigmar Gabriel's ham-fisted attempt to woo Pegida participants pales in comparison to what Helle Thorning-Schmidt did during the campaign for Denmark's elections this year, or what Manuel Valls did in office when he was interior minister.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Thu Aug 13th, 2015 at 05:14:41 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (none / 1)

#Germany Chancellor Merkel visits riot-hit #Heidenau refugee center, makes strong statement ► https://t.co/NCVMs84F3u
— Yannis Koutsomitis (@YanniKouts) agosto 26, 2015

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Aug 26th, 2015 at 10:57:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (4.00 / 3)

Merkel broke her loooong silence. Sigmar Gabriel was there two days earlier. With the following result:

German party receives far-right threats after refugee visit - Yahoo News

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) were forced to evacuate their headquarters on Tuesday after receiving a bomb threat and flood of racist emails and phone calls the party said were linked to leader Sigmar Gabriel's visit to the eastern town of Heidenau.
...Gabriel, who is also vice chancellor and economy minister in Chancellor Angela Merkel's government, traveled to the town on Monday and denounced the "mob" behind the violence.
...The center-left SPD, which shares power with Merkel's conservatives, said that in the 24 hours after Gabriel's visit it had received 300 emails with "misanthropic" content and about 150 calls in which its employees were insulted and threatened.

I don't think the SPD leadership will deny that on-line violent racism reached a markedly new quality and that it is linked with a specific new wave of off-line violent racism.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Wed Aug 26th, 2015 at 11:31:40 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (none / 0)

If you say so.

(Of course, you don't need "online"at all for this reaction. Just a tv set and then a telephone.)

by IM on Thu Aug 27th, 2015 at 05:24:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (none / 0)

Well, justice minister Heiko Maas (SPD) is definitely past denial:

Facebook must ban abusive content, says German Justice Minister Maas | News | DW.COM | 27.08.2015

Heiko Maas wants Facebook to better enforce its community standards to rein in abusive users. Given the recent rise in anti-migrant and xenophobic posts, he has called for a meeting with Facebook's European managers.
...In the letter, which he sent to Facebook's European head office in Dublin as well as to its German subsidiary, he says the social media site's community standards needed to be more efficient and transparent.
In the wake of the recent openly xenophobic and hateful attacks on and protests at refugee camps in Germany, Maas said that the Justice Ministry had received many complaints about abusive content not being banned on Facebook.
Often, users get a message saying that the posts they reported did not violate Facebook's community standards without giving any further explanation "even in very obvious cases," according to Maas.
He says this standard response had become a "farce" and that users were struggling to understand why Facebook is quick to ban nudity, for example, referring to its community standards, but often fails to ban xenophobic and racist posts.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Thu Aug 27th, 2015 at 10:41:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (none / 0)

I almost linked that but rightly suspected you would complain anyway.

by IM on Thu Aug 27th, 2015 at 11:04:17 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (none / 0)

"rightly"?

I don't see DoDo complaining.

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Aug 27th, 2015 at 11:22:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (none / 0)

Well I was complaining about IM's denial, even after his party leadership caught on.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Thu Aug 27th, 2015 at 11:38:09 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (none / 0)

Sure, it's an online problem.

by IM on Thu Aug 27th, 2015 at 11:59:24 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (4.00 / 3)

Huh...

DoDo:

it is linked with a specific new wave of off-line violent racism

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Aug 27th, 2015 at 12:20:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (none / 1)

After violent far-right protests against migrants, German leaders visit refugee centers to appeal for tolerance. http://t.co/yqK2LjOFdc
— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) agosto 26, 2015

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Aug 26th, 2015 at 10:57:48 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (4.00 / 2)

And according to the Postillon, Sachsen-Anhalt will change its name to just Anhalt, to stop people confusing them with the state where such attacks occur.

by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Wed Aug 26th, 2015 at 11:36:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (none / 1)

There was even a call for "Säxit (Saxony's exit from Germany). But, as argued here, the problem is not limited to Saxony. For example, Erfurt's SPD mayor wants to prevent "another Heidenau" by calling for a string of harsher measures against refugees, including denial of school education for children until their request is processed... As the Süddeutsche op-ed says, he fell on his knees in front of the right-wing mob.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Wed Aug 26th, 2015 at 02:34:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Aufstand der Anständigen (none / 0)

The best reaction to the on/off-line anti-refugee hate-mongers I saw so far is the one by comedy duo Joko und Klaas:

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Thu Aug 27th, 2015 at 03:19:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Fair game (none / 0)

Here is a darkly ironic episode of the on-line xenophobic shitstorm.

The one region in the German language area where you'll find unabashed patriotism is South Tyrol. This is also the reason for the controversy around South Tyrol rock band Frei.Wild (a name with an untranslatable dual association: frei, wild means "free, wild"; Freiwild means "fair game"). Two years ago, the controversy led to the withdrawal of the band's nomination in Germany's most prestigious music awards (ET reported).

Now Frei.Wild surprised everyone (most of all their fans) with an unconditional and fiery pro-refugee statement, in which they name AfD und Pegida by name and declare that they don't want support for such types.

The comment section is a shitstorm of the anti-refugee mob, who instantly excommunicated the formerly "proper patriotic" band, accusing them of buckling under left-wing media pressure or selling out or committing treason. Hilarious and nauseating.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Wed Aug 26th, 2015 at 02:59:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The ultimate Facebook irony (none / 1)

Blogger Marie von den Benken wrote a very long and thorough article on the subjects covered in my diary, on the occasion of being personally affected. She was insulted on Facebook by an anti-refugee idiot using his real name, which she made public. What did Facebook do? They closed her account! (This because some far-right troll sent them an email claiming she is posting under a false name.)

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

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