Two times 150,000 euros are intended to enable ZARA, the Austrian victim protection organization for online hatred and online racism, to survive for the time being. This was announced by Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler and Minister for Women Eva-Maria Holzleitner (both SPÖ). “There are remaining euros that have been scraped together from the last cracks in the sofa so that there is this bridging financing,” said the minister on Wednesday. Two days earlier, the news had caused alarm that Family Minister Claudia Bauer (ÖVP) was canceling annual funding for victim protection retroactively to the beginning of the year.
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For ZARA, the 300,000 euros are not a rescue, but rather just a band-aid. For the time being, the non-profit organization can continue to offer free legal and psychosocial advice to victims of online hate, including support in court proceedings. ZARA does not have to lay off all employees. Thanks to financial support from the City of Vienna, ZARA can also advise victims of online racism. In addition, ZARA is the only recognized reporting center (“Trusted Flag”) “in the area of cyber violence, cyber violence against women, illegal speech” according to the Digital Services Act in Austria
For all of this, 300,000 euros a year is clearly not enough. Since 2017, the Austrian Federal Chancellery has supported ZARA with initially 470,000 euros, then 300,000 euros, and most recently 330,000 euros annually. A similar amount was raised annually from donations and the operation of the subsidiary ZARA Training. There is still a lack of long-term support for victims of online hatred and online racism in Austria.
In any case, Family Minister Bauer no longer wants to contribute anything for “budgetary reasons”. Your coalition partners SPÖ and NEOS feel insulted. Bauer announced through a spokesman that reporting and documenting discrimination was “among other things, a task of the equal treatment attorney”. However, there is no talk of an increase in the equal treatment attorney’s resources for this additional work. Bauer’s spokesman also points out that in addition to ZARA, there are seven other Trusted Fahners in Austria. This is true, but they are accredited for other topics, such as consumer protection, the rights of minors, unfair competition or the enforcement of copyright royalties.
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