As digitalisation progresses, young people’s media use is increasing (Albert et al., 2019, Anderson, Faverio and Gottfried, 2023, Feierabend, S., Rathgeb, T., Kheremand, H., & Glöckler, 2023). The lives of young people today are increasingly mediatised and are shifting to social media platforms. Studies on media use show that young people also come into contact with negative topics such as hate speech on these platforms (Albert et al., 2019, Feierabend, S., Rathgeb, T., Kheremand, H., & Glöckler, 2022; Forsa, 2023). In this context, media education research focuses on questions about the perception and evaluation of hate speech (Albert et al., 2019, Feierabend, S., Rathgeb, T., Kheremand, H., & Glöckler, 2022) as well as the question of how educators can address hate speech in an educational context and help to prevent it (Marolla-Gajardo & Castellví-Mata, 2023, Seemann-Herz et al., 2022).

So far, we have little knowledge about who is engaging in digital hate and for what purpose, and what strategies might be helpful in dealing with the phenomenon. This is the starting point for the research work presented in this paper, which has generated valuable findings for media education research.

Eight interviews with feminist net activists were conducted using a qualitative research design. The research questions focused on the activists’ feminist self-image and their experiences with digital violence. The focus was on the question of whether they accept being silenced or whether they have developed strategies and resources that they can draw on when dealing with digital violence.

An exploration of the basic feminist attitude of the activists was carried out through theoretical references to feminist discourses such as the social construction of gender (Gildemeister & Wetterer, 1992; Goffman, 1977; Kessler & McKenna, 1978; Hagemann-White, 1984), deconstructionism (Derrida, 1987; Kahlert, 2000; Butler, 1991), queer theory (Hark, 2009; Jagose, 1996; Woltersdorf, 2003) and intersectional feminism (Crenshaw, 1989, 2013; Winker & Degele, 2009; Yuval-Davis, 2013). The descriptions and analyses of the haters were embedded in the discourse field of antifeminism (Lang & Peters, 2018; Planert 1998; Schutzbach, 2018), especially in current publications on antigenderism (Dağlar-Sezer, & Beaufaӱs, 2021; Ganz & Meßmer, 2015; Hark & Villa, 2015; Henninger & Birsl, 2020; Maurer, 2018; Schmincke, 2018). In order to pursue their goals as effectively as possible, coalitions and alliances are often formed between different groups (Blum, 2019; Lang & Peters, 2018; Strube, Perintfalvi, Hemet, Metze & Sahbaz, 2021).

The results of my study revealed that the haters are part of the anti-feminist spectrum and are characterised by racist, sexist and trans-hostile attitudes (Roß, forthcoming). Antifeminist actors are well organised and try to ban feminist voices from the digital space (Blum, 2019; Dafaure, 2022; Huang, 2023; Roß, forthcoming). Networking between groups is crucial to the effectiveness of antifeminist violence (Drüeke, 2016; Lang & Peters, 2018; Roß, forthcoming).

As the study participants all have displayed a queer and intersectional understanding of feminism, it can be assumed that this is relevant to the experience of anti-feminist hostility. It was found that the activists are particularly affected by digital hatred when they themselves are read as non-white and fall outside the heterosexual norm in terms of their gender identity or gender orientation (Roß, forthcoming).

When young people become victims of digital hatred due to their gender identity, gender orientation or ethnicity deviating from the “norm”, it is possible that organised antifeminists are behind the digital hostility. In contrast to the respondents in this study, who have developed numerous strategies for dealing with anti-feminist violence and have a feminist network to fall back on, young people are much more vulnerable.

As this study constitutes basic research, the empirical data was collected using qualitative methods. The author conducted eight semi-structured, guideline-based interviews, which were analysed using Mayring’s qualitative content analysis method (Mayring, 2015). Semi-structured, guideline-based interviews were selected as the data collection instrument for this study because they are structured and open at the same time. In concrete terms, this means that predetermined guiding questions can be used to provide impulses on research-relevant topics (structural specification) and at the same time allow an open space for the development of thoughts and new topics (openness) (Helfferich, 2009b). The interview guide for this study was initially developed using the SPSS method according to Helfferich (2011). The structure of the guide-based interview followed the rule ‘from the general to the specific’. The interview guide for this study consists of four blocks, each of which is assigned to a topic. The starting point for recruiting the interviewees was the German-language feminist blog “Die Mädchenmannschaft” (https://maedchenmannschaft.net/), which was founded in 2007 and describes itself as a “community blog on feminist history, theory and practice” (Mädchenmannschaft). The interviews were conducted over a period of six months, from October 2018 to April 2019, in northern Germany and ranged in length from 72 to 104 minutes. The interviews were analysed using the qualitative content analysis method. This method was chosen because it combines the requirement of a structured and comprehensible evaluation process with the idea of reflecting on the data, and the interactive character of the data’s creation (Kuckartz, 2018).

When talking about young people’s media use, we cannot avoid shedding light also on the negative, challenging aspects associated with it. The social web is not only used for communication, inspiration and entertainment, but has also become a political tool used by various interest groups. The study “Feminismus im Netz – intersektional, empowernd, angreifbar?! ” (eng.: Feminism on the Net-intersectional, empowering, vulnerable?) (Roß, forthcoming) has brought to light the force with which anti-feminist movements attempt to ban feminist voices. It is not surprising that feminist activists who explicitly position themselves in a queer-feminist and intersectional discourse are under attack. This is contrary to the reactionary views of anti-feminist actors who, on the one hand, see themselves back in a binary and hierarchically structured world of gender and, on the other hand, do not want to question their privileged national and white identity. If the social web is to remain a democratic place that can be used by all young people in a participatory manner, media education must address the problem of anti-feminist violence. From the study presented here, it can be concluded that it is possible to develop and apply strategies for dealing with anti-feminist violence. The prerequisite for this is that structures are developed through which young users can empower each other and stand by each other in solidarity. The first step in this direction lies in the task of critically analysing anti-feminist narratives. This can be done collectively in the context of media education at school. The academic study of anti-democratic, anti-feminist currents in the context of media education is an area that deserves a great deal of attention in future research. Not only in Germany, but everywhere where the shift to the right is already clearly visible in the political landscape.

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