Politically Incorrect (blog)

Last updated

Politically Incorrect
Politically Incorrect logo 2017.png
Type of site
Political blog
Available inGerman and English
OwnerUnknown [1]
Created byStefan Herre
URL www.pi-news.net (German)
CommercialNo
LaunchedNovember 11, 2004 (2004-11-11)
Current statusOnline

Politically Incorrect (commonly abbreviated PI) is a mainly German-language counter-jihad [2] political blog which focuses on topics related to immigration, multiculturalism, and Islam in Germany and Western societies. A condensed version of the weblog is available in English. [3] The blog is one of Germany's oldest far-right sites. [4] Much of its content is Islamophobic. [5] [6]

Contents

PI's self-declared goal is to bring news to a wider public attention which it perceives to be ignored or suppressed in what PI declared as "the mainstream media" due to a pervading "leftist political correctness". [7] The site has no imprint or legal details; the editors and authors are disguised.

According to Der Spiegel , as of April 2021, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Verfassungsschutz) classifies PI as "verified as extremistic" („erwiesen extremistisch") and surveils PI-affiliated activists. [4] The blog's local news bureau in Bavaria has been investigated by the Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution. [8]

History

Politically Incorrect was founded in 2004, soon after the re-election of George W. Bush, by a German teacher named Stefan Herre "to do something against Anti-Americanism"; its popularity surged in the wake of the Muhammad cartoons controversy the following year. [5] Herre participated in an 2007 international counter-jihad conference in Brussels, [9] and has been on the board of advisors of Stop Islamization of Nations (SION). [10] It is one of the most successful German blogs, [5] [6] receiving several tens of thousand visitors each day and ranking among the thousand biggest German websites in terms of traffic. [11] The site ranked ninth in March 2013 among German blogs in terms of public resonance in virtual social networks. [12] The blog is interactive, allowing visitors to leave comments within a certain time limit.

Reception

The blog has been widely criticized by German media for inciting Islamophobia and equating Islam as a whole with Islamic extremism. [5] [6] The blog's internet shop sells items with the slogan "Islamophobic and proud of it". [5] Herre says his Islamophobia is without shame: "Phobia is fear, and I'm afraid of Islam." [5]

The SPD politician Sebastian Edathy, a spokesman for the party on interior affairs, views Politically Incorrect as a vehicle of right-wing populist agitation. [13] It is not observed, however, by the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution which sees it as differing from right-wing extremism in its support of a democratic order and basic rights, as well as its pro-Israel stance. [5] [14] Even so, the Munich local group which cooperates with the German Freedom Party is monitored by the Bavarian branch of the office since April 2013. [8]

See also

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References

  1. "Factsheet: PI-News". Bridge Initiative. Georgetown University. 22 August 2019.
  2. Lee, Benjamin (4 September 2015). "A Day in the "Swamp": Understanding Discourse in the Online Counter-Jihad Nebula" (PDF). Democracy and Security. 11 (3): 248–274. doi:10.1080/17419166.2015.1067612. S2CID   62841363.
  3. "PI English". Politically Incorrect. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  4. 1 2 Wiedmann-Schmidt, Wolf (29 April 2021). "Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz stuft islamfeindlichen Blog »PI-News" als "erwiesen extremistisch« ein". Der Spiegel (in German). ISSN   2195-1349 . Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Reinle, Dominik (17 December 2007). "Angst vor dem Islam – und stolz darauf". WDR (in German). Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 Niggemeier, Stefan (25 October 2007). "Freier Hass für freie Bürger". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  7. "About us". Politically Incorrect. Archived from the original on 4 August 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  8. 1 2 "Verfassungsschutz beobachtet Die Freiheit und "PI"". Hamburger Abendblatt . 12 April 2013. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  9. "Facstsheet: Counter-Jihad movement". Bridge Initiative. Georgetown University. 17 September 2020.
  10. "Stop Islamization of Nations (SION) Calls on UN to Protect Christians of Syria". Press Release from PR Newswire . Reuters. 20 January 2012. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  11. "Pi-news.net Site info". Alexa Internet. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  12. "Deutsche Blogcharts für den März 2013". Deutsche Blogcharts. 4 April 2013. Archived from the original on 10 June 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  13. Edathy, Sebastian; Sommer, Bernd (2009): "Die zwei Gesichter des Rechtsextremismus in Deutschland. Themen, Machtpotentiale und Mobilisierungsressourcen der extremen Rechten", in: Braun, Stephan; Geisler, Alexander; Gerster, Martin (eds.): Strategien der extremen Rechten. Hintergründe, Analysen, Antworten, VS Verlag, ISBN   3-531-15911-9, pp. 53–54
  14. Rath, Christian (26 July 2011). "Nicht einheitlich verfassungswidrig". TAZ . Archived from the original on 23 April 2012. Retrieved 20 June 2013.