We’ve been posting recently about the German government’s crackdown on “hate speech” against immigrants on the Internet, as subcontracted to former Stasi agent Anetta Kahane and the Amadeu Antonio Foundation (see three previous posts).

Below are excerpts from a pamphlet [pdf] published by Ms. Kahane’s minions at her foundation. This publication provides guidelines for the earnest and zealous agents of the state who are assigned to police “hate” on the Internet.

Many thanks to Egri Nök for the translation.

Agitation against refugees in social networks Guidance Amadeu Antonio Foundation Initiatives for civil society and democratic culture

Sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth

Since refugees* have increasingly been seeking shelter from war and persecution in the Germanophone region, the social networks are exploding. Everyone has got an opinion, a warning, worries, a lot of hate and even more anger.

First: How to recognize racist agitation against refugees

To become active against racist agitation, it is necessary to create an awareness of racist utterances, to recognize them for what they are. Essentially, refugees are collectively devalued by hate speech, always in accordance with discrimination by society. Insults against refugees, frequently paired with racist (and often sexist or anti-Semitic) prejudices, are an apparent characteristic of agitation. Most of the time, emotional hate is disguised as rational argumentation. Agitation makes use of wrong information, for example “refugees are exploiting social security systems”. Indirect hate speech often appears harmless at first sight, but in its final consequence it legitimizes racism and violence against refugees, for example, “the right to asylum should be abolished.” (Article 16a of the Basic Law guarantees asylum das a fundamental right: “The politically persecuted enjoy the right to asylum.”) Frequent forms of racist agitation against refugees are:

Juxtaposition of “we” and “they” [or “us” and “them”]

Generalizations (“all refugees…) and equations (for example refugee = Muslim)

Normalizing discrimination: “It is no wonder that…”

Projection of societal problems, such as sexism, criminality or lack of housing for example, onto “refugees”

Denigrating terms, for example “economic refugee”, suggests that the basic right to asylum is being exploited by people who are only coming to Germany for economic reasons, not because they are seeking shelter from persecution

De-humanization: Equation of refugees with insects, parasites, animals

Lies about refugees or alleged criminality, violence, rapes, forged documents — often concealed as one’s own alleged experience

Cultural racism (“They just do not fit in with us”)

(Nationalistic) relativization: What about “our” children/homeless etc.?

One is beginning to feel like a stranger in one’s own country / “death of the people”

Those up there / the lying press are not telling us the truth

Whoever helps refugees is a Gutmensch, or even an extreme Leftist

Am I a Nazi, just because I… / What about my freedom of opinion when you delete my comments?

Often racist agitation is disguised as satire or humor, or afterwards the excuse is made: It was just a joke.