German Neo-Nazis And White Supremacists Find Safe Haven On Extremist Platform Gab

According to Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office ("Bundeskriminalamt" – BKA), online posts containing "incitement of hate" rose by 40.85 percent  in 2022 in Germany, with the BKA recording 2,411 cases of "hate postings" in 2021 and 3,396 in 2022[1] – though the true figures are likely higher. Under Germany's first "National Strategy against Antisemitism and for Jewish Life" (NASAS) published on November 30, 2022, which was approved by the German cabinet in December,[2] a strategy of best practices has been established and offers an action plan to combat antisemitism and hate crimes in general.

NASAS emphasizes increased "data collection, research and evaluation of situation" which constitutes the close monitoring of online activity and a closer collaboration between law enforcement and the network operator.[3] After the nationwide "Action Day to Combat Hate Postings" on June 14, 2023, the German police assumed a joint action against those who post unconstitutional or criminal material, the BKA earlier this month reportedly sent a memo to Gab CEO Andrew Torba inquiring about the "suppression of subversive online hate crime – request for basic subscriber information and usage data."

Torba responded by tweeting on July 13 a graphic that has also been disseminated on Gab featuring a screenshot of the memo that the BKA reportedly sent above a profile of an antisemitic caricature of a Jew. Torba wrote: "The German government just emailed us demanding we turn over user data of a user who posted this meme. It's not going to happen. We are just going to ignore this and not answer them lol."[4]

The information disclosure of Gab users and of respective channels containing extremist content has been issued in accordance with Germany's Telecommuncations Telemedia Data Protection Act 2021 (TTDG),[5]  particularly in reference to  Section 2, "Data Protection and Privacy in Telecommunications,"[6] Section 22 of the "Information [Disclosure] Procedure for Inventory/Existing Data,"[7] and Section 24 of the "Information [Disclosure] Procedure for Inventory/Existing User Data."[8] The German penal code prohibits publicly denying the Holocaust and disseminating Nazi messaging, including sharing images such as swastikas and praising Hitler.[9]

Torba tweeted on July 18 a screenshot of a notification message he received from Twitter concerning a tweet of his that reads: "Talmudic Judaism of today is nothing at all like the Judaism of the OT-which ceased being a religion in 70 AD when the temple was annihilated as Christ said it would be. No temple = no OT Judaism. Something new took its place and was formed by the Jews who rejected – and continue." The notice from Twitter read: "Twitter is required by German law to provide notice to users who are reported by people from Germany via the Network Enforcement Act reporting flow. We have received a complaint for the following content from your account,... We have investigated the reported content and have found that it is not subject to removal under the Twitter Rules."

Other users posted content similar to Torba's. On July 15, an account posted a graphic featuring a depiction of a technology for detecting Jews. The graphic reads: "Radar that picks up Jews." One image in the graphic features a profile of a man with stereotypically "Jewish" facial figures according to antisemitic messaging. text reads: "Jew Detected On Radar." Another image shows a Star of David on a radar screen. Text on the graphic reads: "Germany: Jew Detected, ZOG Cops Worried." The post further indicates that the original post was uploaded by TikTok user "Randy Random451" on December 11, 2021.

The following report is a review of Gab accounts either posting content that violates German law or that was posted by German users sympathizing with national socialist ideology or whose online activity is national socialist-inspired. This activity includes the use of the swastika, images of SS and other Nazi leaders, and the image and name of Adolf Hitler.

YOU MUST BE SUBSCRIBED TO THE MEMRI DOMESTIC TERRORISM THREAT MONITOR (DTTM) TO READ THE FULL REPORT. GOVERNMENT AND MEDIA CAN REQUEST A COPY BY WRITING TO DTTMSUBS@MEMRI.ORG WITH THE REPORT TITLE IN THE SUBJECT LINE. PLEASE INCLUDE FULL ORGANIZATIONAL DETAILS AND AN OFFICIAL EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR REQUEST. NOTE: WE ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE A COPY ONLY TO MEMBERS OF GOVERNMENT, LAW ENFORCEMENT, MEDIA, AND ACADEMIA, AND TO SUBSCRIBERS; IF YOU DO NOT MEET THESE CRITERIA PLEASE DO NOT REQUEST.
 

Gab Accounts Promoting Antisemitic Conspiracy Theories, Nazi Messaging,

One account has as its cover image an NSDAP poster featuring Adolf Hitler bearing the Nazi flag. In the background, a large group of Wehrmacht soldiers salute and hold Nazi flags. The channel's introduction features a quote attributed to Hitler: "It is necessary that I should die for my people; but my spirit will rise from the grave and the whole world will know I was right."

On July 16, the user posted a statement alongside a video titled "Holohoax Mishaps, Zyklon B Shortages" which was initially disseminated on the video-sharing platform Bitchute. It states: "Confused Jews (survivor) says Zyklon B was used to dispose of dead Jews. Jews never lie, they are special to God... Hear from this bullshit lier, tall truthful account of what really happened! Of course the Germans couldn't just shoot them and use mass graves... nope, they hated the Jews so much they had to destroy their precious kosher bodies with Zyklon B afterwards. (Zyklon B they claim was used to gas them before they were cremated of course... none of which makes sense nor even happened.)"

The user posted on July 18, a photo montage featuring a framed flag of Nazi Germany superimposed with the words: "My Leader" embedded in a collage of black-and-white photos of Hitler. The accompanied caption states: "Make Germany Great Again."

In the respect comment section, the user responded: "They think I literally said  the 'sign' overthrew civilization. the sign is a symptom of what it represents [...] I hope this goes viral and pisses off all the Juden and their minions" and "I guess the Hasbara trolls and Unit 8200 are monitoring us closely. The Jews who run Reddit must be pissed they can't ban me on Gab."

On July 18, a photo was posted of the town entrance sign of Markt Legau in the Swabia Bavarian region, which has been spray-painted with a neon-green swastika. The caption accompanying the photo states: "Swastikas Fuck Jewish Constitution, Love Signs – A swastika was 'recently' sprayed on the town sign of Legau as the Judenpresse reports."

One user is a self-proclaimed "Fanatic obstinate National Socialist" whose religion is "Germany." The channel shares an assortment of posts that range from an ultranationalist with a main focus on Germany and content inspired by national socialist messaging.

On March 31, the user posted a graphic featuring the portrait of Albert Leo Schlager, a WWI veteran, member of the Freikorps, and a leader of the Kapp Putsch. Schlageter was decapitated in 1923 by the French occupying forces and has since been viewed as a martyr, particularly as a result of the work of Joseph Goebbels. The graphic includes a quote by Schlageter written in Fraktur script and states: "You will see how they sell (off) our country in order to secure their own pathetic power!"

A graphic featuring a manipulated Banksy stencil art image was posted on June 23, showing a young girl writing on a wall. In a sentence that reads "If You Repeat A Lie Often Enough It Becomes Truth," the girl crossed out the word "truth" and in its place written "6 Million Jews."

On July 4, the user linked to an article titled "Adolf Hitler's Fight For Health And Against Cancer." The article praises Adolf Hitler for his efforts in advancing medical research as well as taking measures to lead and promote health consciousness among the German population, including reducing smoking, and donating the profits from "Mein Kampf," which was about 100,000 Marks, to cancer research that he had personally commissioned. Germans in the Third Reich were encouraged to consume lots of vegetables, exercise regularly, drink mineral water instead of alcohol and stop smoking. It is claimed that "Because of the National Socialists' strong support for science and medical research, most scientists, physicians, and biologists joined the NSDAP. It is further argued that "nowhere else in the world was there such a government-sponsored health campaign at the time."