Concerts, demonstrations, murders and violent attacks – collecting
all this information on an interactive map makes it possible to transmit it to
others. A recently launched map called “Country on the Right” or “Rechtes Land” (at http://www.rechtesland.de/) won’t show
you places to relax, like pleasant cafés or restaurants, but it does reveal something
that has mostly remained hidden until now: The activity of the neo-Nazi scene in Germany.
During its first two days, more than 48 000
users visited the website. The next phase of the project will add historical
data to it, following the Wikipedia model, about local memorials, WWII,
and everything else people want to know about right-wing extremism in their
neighborhoods. Today the map provides information about 120 Fascist marches
that were held throughout the country in 2012 alone.
Data journalist Lorenz Matzat is behind the project and its
content is based on the activity of the Berlin-based organization Apabiz (http://www.apabiz.de/),
which maintains one of the most extensive databases of neo-Nazi activities in
Germany. The authors of the project do not intend to reveal addresses or any
other personal data about individual neo-Nazis on the map.
The aim of the project is to collect and visually depict data on this issue from the many various regional archives kept by activists and
organizations. Members of the public can also contribute to the map once their information
has been verified.
The crowdsourcing of information in order to present a
visual depiction of a topic that involves conflicts and sensitivities is not a risk-free
undertaking. The first risk is that the project could be discredited through
the provision of false or misleading information. There are also concerns
for the safety of those who provide the information.
Given that interactive maps operate like classic websites
(i.e., they have their own administrative boundaries), they are under the total
control of their editors. A great deal of the information is easily verifiable.
The advantage of such an open reporting system is that it makes it possible to keep
track of clues, basic information that could eventually lead to more
investigation. In this sense, the map is actually replacing the work of the
classic media and journalists who have neither the means nor the time (nor,
very often, the willingness) for such investigations.
Even anonymous, unverified information can be meaningful
in this respect. Either the organization itself takes the time to verify it, or
the verification is done by crowdsourcing, a process through which other users help track
down audiovisual content, data, or sources to augment the originally
unverified information and either confirm or refute it.
Another concern is that the map could be used to support
the promotion of the neo-Nazi movement. However, it would be naïve to believe
the neo-Nazis do not already have their own information (for example, about
upcoming concerts) from their own internal sources. The places such
concerts are held are supposed to remain secret to avoid police detection, but
it is possible to find such information by searching for it in closed online
discussion forums.
Long-term monitoring, expanded through the accessibility
of this data and its depiction in visual form, also makes it possible to find
interesting geographic connections and correlations. There are plenty of
reasons for the neo-Nazi scene to keep their activities secret, and that is why
it also makes sense to shed some light on this hidden world.
