Digital bullying – raids in six federal states

Digital persecution, threats and insults on the Internet, including against people with disabilities: The police have taken action against ten suspects in raids on apartments in six federal states.

The alleged members of the online group “New World Order” are accused of being ringleaders in a criminal organization that systematically commits crimes such as cyberbullying and cyberstalking. This was announced by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) in Wiesbaden and the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Frankfurt am Main with its Central Office for Combating Internet Crime (ZIT).

During the searches in Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Baden-Württemberg, Hesse and Lower Saxony, the officers seized numerous electronic devices and storage media for their investigations. According to the BKA and ZIT, the leaders of the “New World Order” group had often chosen “vulnerable or cognitively impaired people” from the so-called online streamer scene as victims, followed them, threatened them and insulted them.

“In addition, symbols of unconstitutional organizations or content that incites hatred are published in the respective comment functions.” “One of the aims of the association is to mock the victims and make them give up their online presence,” it continued. Their personal data is also published online.

Another method used by the association is the BKA and ZIT for the misuse of emergency calls, for example “to alert the fire department due to a supposed fire in the victim’s apartment, to call the gas emergency service due to a supposed smell of gas from the victim’s apartment or to notify the police due to a supposed violent crime taking place in the victim’s apartment.” The aim of a police call is for special forces to enter a victim’s apartment during a live stream and arrest them – a so-called swatting.