The Murder of Keira. Misinformation and Hate Speech as Far-Right Online Strategies
Alina Darmstadt, Mick Prinz, Oliver Saal · transcript Verlag eBooks · 2018
A young girl has been murdered in the German capital, Berlin.But before the police can launch their investigation, the German-speaking alternative right claims to have identified the perpetrator -or at least his origin: "On Wednesday, Keira has been slain in her bedroom.Everyone suspects that the perpetrator is not named 'Thorsten'," 1 posted a Twitter user going by the alias Walden."We did not know such atrocities before the invasion of evil itself", tweeted another user.The case of the 14-year-old Keira is eagerly absorbed in right-wing echo chambers.Sadly, it blends all too well into the scene's world-view, thanks to rumors that the murderer has a non-German background.All media outlets and influential actors of the alternative right contribute baseless speculations about the perpetrator's origin.They weave Keira's murder into a narrative by which Germany has turned into a hotbed of violent crime ever since the increased influx of refugees in 2015.Advocates who draw this picture see the country en route to civil war because of perceived 'mass immigration' and 'Islamization'.Consulting social media on today's spectrum of political opinions, one quickly develops the impression that a majority of users support misogynous, racist, and anti-refugee sentiments.Such hateful positions are expressed aggressively, seeking to dominate and frame public debates.This poses a problem as online discussions are increasingly seen as a truthful 1 | Authors decided to not refer to websites, posts or tweets of the alternative right sphere with URLs, but do possess screenshots of every posting cited and will provide them for journalist or research purposes.