In their own words
Germany – LOVE-Storm is an online platform for training and action against online hate. Our training approach is based on an Online Training Room for role plays. Participants slip into the roles of haters, targets or (intervening) audience and try out different strategies of counter speech. They then reflect the impact and develop their own personal approaches to reach the three LOVE-Storm objectives.
1. to protect targets of hate speech,
2. to mobilize other users and
3. to limitate hate-behaviour
Within 2019 over 1000 persons have been trained, including over 300 multipliers (teachers, trainer etc.) who can use the online-training-room in their usual educational settings. Also in 2019 the online-training-room was awareded the Comenius EduMedia Award of the German Association for Pedagogy, Information and Media (GPI). LOVE-Storm offers different workshop formats from 90 minutes webinars to a 9 day training course.
Within the Action Platform, targets and witnesses of online hate can report incidents and ask for help by trained members of the LOVE-Storm community. They are alarmed via app (push-messages) or e-mail until five members react. Within the action they can communicate with each other over the platform while engaging the incidents of online hate. Nobody has to tackle online hate alone!
LOVE-Storm is a project of the Federation for Civilian Based Defence that has been on the forefront of spreading concepts of civil courage education over the past 25 years. The development of the platform had been funded by the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth.
