The arbiters of acceptable online speech are not nearly as ‘independent’ as the EU would have people believe.
The role designated to ‘trusted flaggers’ under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) has faced strong criticism from Republican lawmakers in Washington. They argue that this law risks granting Europeans—and in particular European governments—the authority to determine what Americans can express online. The DSA mandates that platforms such as Facebook, X, and TikTok provide “notice and action” systems, enabling “individuals and entities” within the EU to report content for removal. Furthermore, it authorizes EU member states to designate organizations whose reports take precedence. These designated entities are known as ‘trusted flaggers.’
In response to the House Judiciary Committee’s interim report highlighting the “foreign censorship threat” posed by the DSA, Democratic committee members cited an expert asserting that trusted flaggers “don’t have a magic delete button,” emphasizing that the decision to remove flagged content ultimately rests with the platforms themselves. Notably, this expert source is Josephine Ballon, managing director of HateAid—a German organization that holds ‘trusted flagger’ status.
Given the committee’s reliance on Ballon’s statement, it is worthwhile to closely examine HateAid, enabling Americans and English speakers alike to decide whether such an entity should wield—if not a “magic delete button”—any special influence over what may be said online.
For a broader analysis on whether the DSA’s ‘trusted flaggers’ should be entrusted with monitoring American speech, see my recent piece in Law & Liberty accessible here.
So, who exactly is HateAid, and what is its mission?
The House Judiciary Committee’s interim report points out that although ‘trusted flaggers’ must be independent from the platforms they regulate, they are far from independent of the EU member states that appoint and, in some cases, finance them. HateAid exemplifies this dependency. Its ties to the German government are so extensive that the group resembles a para-governmental organization rather than an independent NGO.
In June last year, HateAid was officially designated as a ‘trusted flagger’ by the German telecom regulator, the Bundesnetzagentur, which acts as Germany’s national DSA enforcement authority. Interestingly, even before this appointment, HateAid’s managing director Josephine Ballon already served on the regulator’s advisory board on DSA issues, holding the position of deputy chair.
HateAid’s relationship with the German government goes beyond designation and advisory roles; it is also financially supported by the state. According to government responses cited by alternative news outlet Nius, HateAid has benefited from €4.7 million in public funding since its foundation in 2018. Information from the German Bundestag’s Lobby Registry shows nearly €1.3 million in support from the Ministries of Justice and Family Affairs just in 2024, with more than €1 million received annually since 2022.
What is the core focus of HateAid? True to its name, it offers aid to those targeted by ‘hate.’ However, unlike the American legal concept of ‘hate crime,’ HateAid’s scope covers ‘hate speech’—essentially, speech-related offenses—an area not recognized under U.S. law.
Under German Criminal Code provisions, expressions of “hate” aimed at religious, racial, and ethnic groups (§130) are forbidden, but the law also criminalizes simple “insults” (§185) and “malicious gossip” (üble Nachrede—§186) aimed at individuals. In addition, public officials are granted extra protections against injurious speech under Germany’s so-called lèse-majesté provision (§188).
For example, in a widely covered case, retired citizen Stefan Niehoff was subjected to a police raid simply for reposting a meme on X that humorously labeled former German Economics Minister Robert Habeck a “professional moron.” During his tenure, Habeck reportedly lodged over 800 criminal complaints for insults and related offenses. Annalena Baerbock, former Foreign Affairs Minister and current UN General Assembly president, filed more than 500 similar complaints.
HateAid appears to specialize in supporting public officials involved in such legal actions. Its clientele notably includes prominent Green Party leaders. In a legal dispute with Nius, which itself reported, HateAid acknowledged assisting Habeck, although denying involvement in all 800 complaints and the Niehoff matter specifically. Habeck, once Green Party co-chair alongside Baerbock, is one figure HateAid has publicly confirmed supporting via complaint filings under the lèse-majesté law (see here).
Other former Green Party co-chairs on HateAid’s client list include Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir, along with former parliamentary group leader Renate Künast, all of whom were part of the same government alongside Habeck and Baerbock that provided HateAid with millions in funding.
HateAid assisted Künast in what it describes as a “landmark” case against Facebook. The lawsuit centered on a meme quoting Künast saying, “Integration starts with you as a German learning Turkish!” This allegedly satirical statement, adapted from remarks made on German television criticizing a guest’s mispronunciation of a Turkish name, was judged by the German court to be believable as Künast’s actual words. An English summary of that ruling is available here.
HateAid also claims to fight antisemitism but became embroiled in controversy after aiding Michael Blume, Antisemitism Commissioner in Baden-Wurttemberg, in litigation against Twitter. Blume has had an ongoing conflict with renowned German-Jewish journalist Henryk Broder, who considers him unfit for his role. Despite their official duties to combat antisemitism, several writers for the Achse des Guten website, co-founded by Broder, have accused Blume himself of antisemitic behavior—highlighting how accusations of ‘hate’ can be manipulated. For an English overview of the controversy, see here.
HateAid’s history with Achse des Guten is significant. Founded by Broder and colleagues in the 2000s as a pro-Israel, pro-American, and anti-Green platform, the website also became an important voice against COVID-19 restrictions during the pandemic.
In late 2016, Gerald Hensel, a German online advertising expert, initiated a campaign aimed at cutting funding to purportedly ‘far-right’ sites by pressuring advertisers. Using the hashtag #keinGeldFürRechts (“no money for the right”), he included Broder’s Achse des Guten on his “blacklist,” which he openly compiled and labeled.
Even the mainstream German weekly Der Spiegel criticized the classification of Broder’s site as ‘far right,’ though it accepted Hensel’s comparable labeling of the American conservative outlet Breitbart. Notably, Hensel explicitly aimed to “cut off Breitbart & Co from the media lifeline,” i.e., to remove their advertising revenue, as evidenced in his original blog post titled “No Money for the Right: Let’s Cut Off Breitbart & Co from the Media Lifeline.”
This background matters because Gerald Hensel is one of HateAid’s three founding partners. He can be seen on the left in the photo on HateAid’s website.
More recently, HateAid has expanded its focus to include combating alleged hatred toward ‘trans’ individuals. In a November 2024 video preserved by Nius here, Berlin-based trans activist and drag performer Jurassica Parka emotionally pleads for acceptance, declaring, “No one chooses to be trans, dammit,” before adding, “Trans people do not take anything away from anybody. Trans people do not threaten this society. Trans people enrich this society.” The video concludes with the logos of HateAid and the German Ministry of Family Affairs.
Jurassica Parka, whose birth name is Mario Olszinski, is under investigation by German police on charges relating to possession and dissemination of child pornography. German authorities acted after a tip from the U.S.-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Investigations by the German queer magazine Siegessäule revealed that Olszinski was already convicted in 2023 for distributing “child-pornographic writings.”
Original article: europeanconservative.com
About the Author
