A hail of lead
During the Corona pandemic in 2021, the number of infected people skyrocketed, measures became more stringent and anger rose, with political decision-makers at the receiving end.
Hate speech including pictures of bloodbaths, threats and calls for acts of violence has been a problem for a long time. Earlier, hate speech was put in letter format; today, it fills digital media posts and the comment sections everywhere: on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Telegram, etc.
The language used is vulgar.
The tone is threatening, dangerously so, for members of parliament, politicians, society and our democracy.
This trend has been on the rise.
Some people’s reaction to the Corona measures was like a dam bursting. They were unable to control their anger at the measures. Like Patrick*, they expressed their rage online. At home, with his cell phone, he thought he was anonymous and felt safe, far too safe.
In a Telegram chat group, Patrick wrote:
…someone should cut down a certain government official with a hail of lead. Does he mean shells? Projectiles? Bullets?
This comment did not go unnoticed. fedpol’s CYMON taskforce – the acronym stands for Cyber Monitoring – pricked up their ears.
CYMON was established in 2021. CYMON’s assignment was to search publicly accessible content posted to social media and websites for threats of violence and calls for militant action against local officials. This includes public posts on Facebook and open Telegram and Whatsapp chat groups. Its goal was to protect government officials, members of parliament and federal employees.
CYMON processed up to 4,000 messages per day from mid-September to the end of December. The number of hate comments and threats was volatile, spiking with the introduction of new Corona measures, and peaking on the polling day for the COVID-19 Act on 28 November 2021.
Patrick’s comment was assessed by the Federal Security Service. They focused on the following questions: How great is the risk posed by Patrick? Does he possess weapons? Is he known to the police?
When it identifies criminal content, the Federal Criminal Police conducts police investigations, interrogates the person posing a threat and possibly others, and files a report with the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland. Patrick’s example shows how actions in the digital world have consequences for the real world, not just for the person posing a threat.
Comments in cyberspace can take on a momentum of their own. Even if Patrick does not intend to carry out his threat, his comment can inspire someone else to take action. That’s what needs to be prevented.
* Name changed for privacy reasons.
fedpol steps in
fedpol continuously analyses potential threats and applies appropriate protection measures. These range from general security advice for a threatened person to personal protection. fedpol may send a warning letter to persons who use particularly aggressive or offensive language online. fedpol can also conduct a threat assessment at the place of residence of the author of such language.