The interior ministers of the German states are investigating whether a separate criminal offense should be introduced for cyberbullying.
The proposal is included in a draft resolution ahead of a meeting of interior ministers in the city of Potsdam, near Berlin, from Wednesday to Friday.
“Cyberbullying is a growing phenomenon that has been underestimated until now, although it has serious consequences for victims in many areas of life,” said Michael Stübgen, the interior minister of the eastern state of Brandenburg.
He submitted the motion to the conference, which he currently chairs. The justice ministers should first examine the proposal.
Stübgen said several months ago that while cyberbullying often affects women and children, hostility and threats against municipal officials and elected representatives have also increased at an alarming rate.
The newspaper Der Spiegel wrote that the Federal Ministry of Justice believes that current criminal law already allows cyberbullying to be punished “in a manner appropriate to the crime and culpability.”
However, the possible need for change was examined “in relation to the requirements of the EU Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence.”
