For an organization that helps against hate, it attracts a lot of hate itself, Melanie Amann stated in the introduction. One day before Christmas Eve last year, the US State Department imposed an entry ban on Josephine Ballon and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, the two heads of the non-profit company HateAid, which supports those affected by online hate comments. In this context, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the two women as “leading figures in the global censorship-industrial complex”.
"That was of course a shock. At first you can't believe that this is really happening," Josephine Ballon now recalled in the "Amann Unframed" format, "that you are actually being mentioned by name and are being put in the spotlight - and that too by the US government." Entry bans are usually not announced publicly, explained the managing director of the NGO.
The attention quickly made itself felt in their inboxes in the form of hate messages and threats. “It was clear to us from the first second, after we took a deep breath, that we would now communicate very aggressively because we would not let ourselves be intimidated by it,” she reported confidently. “That was clear to us straight away.”
Ballon was certain that the entry bans were not about her or her co-director as a person. Rather, the US government wanted to “send a very clear signal to everyone who wants to regulate online platforms, who want to demand that online platforms” like Meta, TikTok and X “in Europe should adhere to European law”. “This is nothing more than a test,” said the lawyer. "They wanted to see how far they could venture - including diplomatically. What happens then? And to be honest, not that much has happened for the US government."
Representatives of alternative media such as podcaster Dominik Kettner praised the decision from the United States. The Trump administration is showing “backbone in the face of EU tyranny”. However, there was clear criticism from the German government. The entry bans imposed are “unacceptable,” emphasized Federal Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on the X platform. “The Digital Services Act ensures that everything that is illegal offline is also illegal online.”
The SPD politician Karl Lauterbach also joined the NGO leaders. "The sanctions against HateAid are an attempt at censorship," he complained on Platform
Ballon expressed his gratitude to Amann for the public support that had been given in particular by Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig and Federal Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul. “As far as practical assistance is concerned, it has actually been limited so far, which is of course partly because it is a precedent,” speculated the lawyer. The federal government is not at all prepared for the United States to threaten sanctions and exploit them “to force political behavior.”
The Union in particular is keeping its distance from the non-profit organization after the decision from the United States. "It's the case that we definitely notice that politicians from the CDU faction, for example, don't like to be seen with us. I don't know whether that's just because of the relationship with the USA," speculated Ballon. Anyone who allows themselves to be photographed with HateAid representatives could “potentially incur the wrath of the US government” or even “receive financial sanctions.”
This also threatened her and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg. "An entry ban does not always turn into a financial sanction, but whenever there were financial sanctions, then there was also an entry ban beforehand. And it was also explicitly threatened in these many tweets," said Ballon. “We’re kind of sitting on hot coals now.” First of all, in the event of a sanction, they would lose access to payment service providers as well as credit cards from Visa and Mastercard, for which there were previously no European alternatives.
HateAid has also represented Union politicians in the past, said Ballon. The impression that is sometimes given that the organization is close to the Greens is due to the high-profile cases within the party. “We are an advice center for those affected by digital violence and we cannot speak about it publicly unless those affected do so themselves. Or if they give us their consent to do so,” says the lawyer. There have even been inquiries from people “who are in the AfD or are close to the AfD”.
Nevertheless, the Hamburg regional court decided in the spring that it was a permissible expression of opinion to describe HateAid as a “front organization of the Greens” and the two managing directors as “left-wing extremists,” Amann said. How can Ballon explain this? “The court said that it is a legitimate expression of opinion to call me a left-wing extremist because, in contrast to the more conservative US President Donald Trump, my political views are more left-wing - and left-wing extremism is then a permissible exaggeration,” explained the respondent.
In their eyes, the decision shows a “worrying development”. "Terms like 'fascist' or 'left-wing extremist' are terms that have definitions. At least in my world, they still mean something," she explained. As a lawyer, she swore an oath to the constitution. "That's why I don't agree with people calling me that. Because I'm of the opinion that everything I say publicly is definitely in favor of democracy. And I wouldn't speak out in favor of an authoritarian form of government."
