Diana Ruland was one of the people who took part in the debate by sharing a Facebook friend's post in a Mehlem Facebook group. The post talks about an alleged knife attack on a young man, about a group assault, theft and a warning to take care of oneself and one's own children. Ruland commented that she was angry and upset. Up to that point, she had no proof that the story was true. "Since I know the person, I thought it was a reliable source," she states. Looking back, she is quite critical of her own behaviour: "You definitely shouldn't believe everything directly. I have learned from that."

Bonn media scientist Sascha Simons sees an important reason for the spread of rumours in the design of social networks. Social media users must always be "aware that communication is in the interest of the platform operators", he explains. Facebook and Co. are designed from the ground up to motivate their users to interact. "So rumours fall on fertile ground," Simons continues.

Speculations and false statements are rewarded by the platform algorithms because they quickly attract attention, according to the Bonn scientist. The result is polarisation and affective action. Users should always reflect on themselves before posting or spreading a message and ask: "Do I really have to spread this news or am I just playing into the hands of the platform operators?”

This is a question that Holger Hannes also asked himself in the wake of the Mehlem blood trail. Hannes is one of the administrators of the Facebook group "I love Bad Godesberg", in which members exchange information about what is happening in the district. The administrator initially chose to not make a post about the blood trail available to the group members. Hannes is convinced that reports like this would "not serve any useful purpose" but only "satisfy the pathological sensationalism of some people".

Together with the other administrators, the Bad Godesberg resident therefore decided to wait for the press report of the GA, including a statement by the police. "In my opinion, it's just right to know the facts first," said one group member, thanking them for their "responsible approach". This approach is in the hands of twelve administrators and about 20 moderators, who watch over compliance with the group rules: "Friendly, open-minded, constructive and solution-oriented" - these are the value principles of the Facebook group that are given to every newcomer.

Fake news reaches the group in the Corona pandemic

With his commitment, Holger Hannes wants to "consciously steer against the trend in social media" and thus prevent overheated discussions or fake news. He also sees his work in social media as a "lever to make a difference locally" by contributing online to a factual debate on local issues. In principle, deleting or hiding certain posts is not a suitable means for Hannes. Instead, the team of administrators always tries to moderate issues, asks for clarifications and corrections or follows up on missing sources.

As an example of checking facts, Hannes refers to a case that occurred at the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic: "In Bad Godesberg, vehicles belonging to carers were allegedly broken into and nursing staff were pressured to hand over disinfectant under threat of violence," according to a comment. But the police could not confirm the story, and the author could not name a source, even after being asked several times, so the team excluded them from the group.

What are the rules in other Facebook groups?

Other Bad Godesberg Facebook groups also take action if the content of a post is not based on verifiable sources. In the group "You come from Friesdorf, if..." posters are asked to delete such posts. If they don’t, "we intervene and do it ourselves", explains administrator Ralf Schaak. Contact is not approved by administrators before being posted, though.

The same applies in the group "You come from Bad Godesberg, if...", in which Bettina Klasen is one of the four administrators. "First of all, everyone is allowed to post," she says, but she also refers to the group rules. These, however, say nothing about fake news. "An important point," says Klasen, who immediately thinks about adding the topic to the list. If questionable postings appear in the group despite all the rules, the administrators first write to the person privately. "If the statement cannot then be substantiated or there is no feedback, we delete the post," Klasen explains.

According to the Bonn police, the extent to which the spreading such critical content might even border on breaking the law must be clarified in each individual case. Fake news is generally not punishable as long as it is made "without reference to a specific person or group of people", explains police spokesperson Frank Piontek. So anyone who falsely makes an allegation like "The euro exchange rate crashed tonight" need not worry about prosecution at the moment.

However, if people are the target of an accusation or disparaging statement, the police distinguish between insult, defamation and slander, which in the worst case can lead to prosecution with a fine or imprisonment of up to two years. In practice, however, it is often a problem that the authors of such messages cannot be identified, explains Piontek. In this case, a criminal complaint can only be filed against unknown persons, and if the search is unsuccessful, the investigation is discontinued.

In addition, active intervention in the area of fake news usually only takes place in case of so called "occasion-related investigations", for example in connection with "fraud, theft and receiving stolen goods", or "in the case of concrete suspicion of defamation, insult or threat". There is no dedicated office in Bonn to deals specifically with the detection of fake news.

But the fact that the Bonn police department cannot ignore the topic was recently made clear by the case of the fake news video from Euskirchen, in which it was claimed that a group of Ukrainians had assaulted a 16-year-old. According to Piontek, this was the first time that the Bonn police had issued a "warning" to make it clear, also via social media, that the story was a fake.

Original article: Jonas Dirker / Translation: Jean Lennox