“Normally I should have been dead for ten years, given the number of death threats I’ve already received,” says a hardened Lucas Miedler in response to a discussion about the problem of hate postings started by the local tennis association at a press event last Friday against athletes, coaches and their families.
“I got some after my first mixed Future game. The worst ones are at the bottom of the Future level anyway. Things are more solid at the top,” says the doubles specialist with gallows humor.
Even this is difficult when close family members are threatened with life-threatening illnesses because of lost five-euro bets, or when a friend’s social accounts are attacked.
Not a new phenomenon
As Miedler already noted, the phenomenon of hate postings is not a new one. Jürgen Melzer, now ÖTV sports director and Davis Cup captain, was bombarded with numerous messages during his playing days (report>>>).
“I don’t think it’s gotten any worse. I was extremely insulted during my playing days,” said Melzer. “It’s a problem that needs to be addressed. I’ve been saying that for ten years anyway.”
The now 42-year-old from Lower Austria is correspondingly committed to this topic. At the end of last year, ÖTV presented its newly founded task force against hatred and violence on the internet. The trigger was the death threats she made public to Tamira Paszek in the fall (report>>>).
“Boundaries are being crossed”
“Boundaries are being crossed. I was surprised myself at how deep the insults are,” said ÖTV managing director Thomas Schweda, surprised at the extreme extent of such messages.
“No one has the right to criticize other people in such a way. Whether they are number 1 or number 500 in the world, no one should be defamed like that for their work,” said Schweda, who spoke before two weeks ago he also initiated the social media posting in which Dominic Thiem was defended after his first round defeat at the Australian Open and which caused a lot of positive response in the domestic tennis world.
“The posting was made by Tomi Schweda, who simply said ‘enough is enough’,” says Melzer, who also knows from his own experience: “It’s a double-edged sword because a lot has been reported about it. Often it is It’s smart to let the wind pass because you can’t change people anyway.”
ÖTV task force is intended to help those affected
Maybe no change, but at least some help for those affected should be achieved by the new ÖTV task force, which is financed by the ÖTV main sponsor win2day (report>>>). Over 60 players were contacted by the association and invited to workshops where they were or will be trained in dealing with hate messages in the future.
“The response was very good,” said Schweda, who also sits on the executive board of the “Play Fair Code” association, which is discussing a “uniform contact point for all sports” together with the Ministry of Sports.
Criminal prosecution of hate posts?
They are also in contact with a law firm in London to find a technical solution so that players can pass on hate messages they receive in a simple process. “For this to happen, the players would have to give us access to their devices.”
According to Melzer, the emphasis here is on “simple”: “It is important that the effort for the player is minimal. When betting, for example, there is a contact point where you can report if someone speaks to you. I have that in “I’ve done it two or three times in my active career and it’s a hussar ride like no other. You have to run from Pontius to Pilate and therefore you think about it four times whether you even want to do that to yourself.”
“It has to go like this: ‘Here you have my access data. Get the dodel!’ And I have nothing to do with it anymore, except if I have to make a statement,” said Melzer, who believes the prosecution of the perpetrators is essential.
SV or passport number when registering?
“The only right thing would be for one of them to be held responsible and either have to pay a really hefty fine or – if they can’t afford it – go to prison. Then we would have dealt with the issue very quickly,” says Melzer, who accordingly also advocates that you can only register for comment forums or social media by providing a social security number or passport number. “Then you would have something in hand if something were to happen.” A real name requirement would also make sense.
Schweda agrees: “The best thing would of course be if we caught someone and they actually had to answer to a court and had to pay 50,000 or 100,000 euros for it.”
Legal framework must first be created
Of course, the necessary legal framework must first be created for this. ÖTV Vice President Georg Blumauer, a former Davis Cup player and now head of his own law firm, explains: “The law often has the problem with these new developments that it lags behind and is reactive. You have to create a legal framework so that you These different forms of supposed violations of the law can also become real violations of the law.”
The discussion about the hate posts is keeping the (tennis) world busy.
Photo: © GEPA
“Then you have the problem of implementing the law and prosecuting this offense is another problem. Besides, you can’t tackle every posting. A death threat is clear, but insults are a different story,” Blumauer gives a brief insight into the matter complex matter.
Melzer also holds the media responsible
Melzer also holds the media responsible in this discussion. Finally, in almost all comment areas there is often a rude tone that is difficult to control. In addition, the media sometimes literally incites users to make negative comments.
The former world number eight also shows understanding: “It’s just the content that gets the clicks. I understand the problem and I don’t want to be the one who has to control this abundance of postings.”
Nevertheless: “I believe that there needs to be a rethink on the part of the media. The media should openly oppose it and put out everything that is possible.”
Attacks on Thiem – “It will wear you down at some point”
Because one thing is clear: players are also just people who first have to put up with such hostility. Dominic Thiem in particular has been under extreme public fire since making a comeback after his difficult wrist injury. In almost every article about the former world number three, he is insulted and suggested in unfriendly terms that he should resign as soon as possible.
“It really depends on how you’re built. For players who aren’t Dominic, it’s less. But if you have thousands of comments in every article written about you, 50 percent of which will kill you “wish” – every time – that wears you down at some point. That’s bullying,” says Melzer, who is particularly annoyed by one statement in such cases: “You earn so much anyway. You have to put up with it.”
On the one hand, it is almost impossible to avoid the whole thing (“Even if you don’t read it, 68 people will tell you”). On the other hand, it affects the entire family: “How does my father come to read something like that about his son? Or his own children about their parents?”
Thiem: “It’s good that this topic is being addressed”
Thiem himself usually holds back in discussions about hate posts. Probably in the knowledge that if he got involved there would probably be even more excitement.
“Dominic doesn’t normally want to offer any attack surface,” says Melzer, showing understanding for his behavior. The ÖTV initiative did not go unnoticed by Thiem either and he also praised it at his press conference in Schörfling on Tuesday.
“I generally found it good that this topic was addressed because it’s not just me that is affected by it, but every tennis player – no matter what level. From the very young – where it’s much worse – to the very top, where you yourself is insulted when he wins in three sets instead of two,” said Thiem, who is offended by this behavior, and not just in sport.
“It’s a pretty big problem that athletes and people in other areas are insulted like that. The only word that comes to mind is ‘unnecessary,'” says the 2020 US Open winner.
“What goes on in a person like that?”
Thiem shares the great lack of understanding about the hate posts with Melzer: “Maybe I went to school for a year or two too long: I just can’t imagine what has to go through a person to get this off my chest falls.”
And Miedler also asks himself: “What goes on in a person like that? I find it almost shocking how much time people have. They can’t have anything else in their lives.”
Questions that those affected can probably only answer for themselves.
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2024-02-02 10:57:03
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