By Hans-Jörg Vehlewald, Felix Rupprecht and Carl-Victor Wachs
Will Germany become a Petzer Republic? To the land of poets and troublemakers?
More and more state and semi-state Petz portals and apps are urging Germans to blacken their fellow citizens.
► Racists and alleged misogynists is reported via the “Meldestelle Antifeminismus”, funded with 2 million euros by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs.
► tax fraudsters ratted out via the finance ministries’ new reporting apps. Baden-Württemberg has already collected over 3,000 ads – all anonymously, of course.
► Anyone who wants to get one over on their neighbors simply exposes them to the German Environmental Aid as “illegal parker”, preferably with a photo. Eco block warden Jürgen Resch, head of environmental aid, collects the parking offender data and sends it to the regulatory office.
The CSU politician Stefan Müller (47) warns: “The association promotes mutual denunciation of the population. Drivers are deliberately harassed.”
► In case of stress with the beverage dealer helps Greenpeace with the “Reusable Violation Report” portal. The dealer then automatically gets in trouble from the office because there are not enough returnable bottles on offer.
► Self WrongRESIDENT and their landlords can be denounced at the Berlin Senate under the keyword “misappropriation”. Even Malle vacationers have to expect visitors at the moment. A Petz portal was also opened there.
Whether the allegations are true, the name of the indicator is correct – who cares…?
“Advantage” of the creeping informer trend: The state, which has not even succeeded in implementing an EU law for whistleblowers in companies, can claim that it is doing something. Against grievances such as xenophobia and sexism, which can usually hardly be prosecuted under criminal law. Motto: “We have the app…”
Disadvantage: “No good intention can prevent abuse,” warns historian Prof. Michael Wolffsohn (75). “State-sponsored informers” have always existed. Wolffsohn: “It’s a shame that our democracy resorts to these anti-democratic methods.”
GDR expert Hubertus Knabe (64) also recalls Germany’s bitter lessons, warning: “We had enough of the times in Germany when you had to be afraid of neighbors, block wardens and Stasi spies.”
Is there a sneak in every one of us?
Actually, the vernacular says it all: “The biggest rascal in the whole country, that is and remains the informer.”
Spy examples from German history provide terrible associations, such as Stasi crimes. Even if denouncing parking offenses is not comparable to state surveillance: have we learned from history? Or is the desire to snitch just in us?
Snitching is considered absurd per se – but: “You can also improve things by addressing them with someone who can change something,” explains psychologist Jacob Drachenberg (33). There could be a strong sense of justice behind it. However, not in every case. “There are people who reduce their frustration and channel stress in this way,” says the psychologist. However, the majority is not like that.