Criminal Complaint or Lawyer? Anonymous Offenders, Costs and Removal

If you are attacked online, there are two routes that do not exclude each other: criminal proceedings and civil law. Criminal proceedings aim at the state prosecuting the offence. Civil law aims at you enforcing something yourself – removal, an injunction, sometimes money. Often both routes run in parallel. This article shows what is behind each of them.

Route 1: The criminal complaint

You can file a criminal complaint (Strafanzeige) at any police station, in writing with the public prosecutor's office, or online via the online police station (Onlinewache) of your federal state. It is free of charge. You do not need a lawyer, but you can involve one.

For insult, defamation and malicious defamation, you generally also need a request for prosecution (Strafantrag). State it explicitly: “I file a request for prosecution for all offences that may apply.” You have three months for this, from the time you learn of the act and the offender. Which offences require such a request is explained in Cyberbullying and Hate Speech: Definition, Examples and What Counts Legally.

What happens then:

• The police take down the complaint and pass it to the public prosecutor's office.
• The public prosecutor's office investigates. It can request data from platforms and telecommunications providers to find out who is behind an account.
• In the end, it either closes the case, applies for a penalty order (Strafbefehl) or brings charges.

For insults, the public prosecutor's office can also refer you to a private prosecution (Privatklage) if it sees no public interest in prosecuting. You would then have to sue yourself. With online hate, public interest is often affirmed, but there is no guarantee.

Several federal states have set up specialised public prosecutor's offices or reporting points for online hate crime.

What is possible with anonymous offenders

“Anonymous” rarely means “untraceable” online. But it does mean: someone has to request the data, and the data must still exist.

In criminal proceedings, the public prosecutor's office does this. Whether it succeeds depends on which data the platform has stored, where it is based, and how long connection data such as IP addresses is still held by the internet provider. The earlier you report, the better.

In civil law, there is a route of its own: the right to information under § 21 of the Telecommunications Digital Services Data Protection Act (Telekommunikation-Digitale-Dienste-Datenschutz-Gesetz, TDDDG). Under it, platforms may disclose a user's data if that is necessary to enforce civil-law claims over certain unlawful content – for example insult, defamation, malicious defamation or threats. A court must order the disclosure beforehand. In practice, a law firm usually files for this procedure.

Platforms often know only an email address or phone number. The information is therefore sometimes only an intermediate step.

Route 2: Civil law

Criminal law punishes. But it does not automatically make content disappear or stop it from being repeated. That is what civil law is for. Depending on the case, a law firm can, for example:

• Send a formal warning (Abmahnung): the person is asked to remove the content and to sign a cease-and-desist declaration backed by a contractual penalty (strafbewehrte Unterlassungserklärung). If they offend again afterwards, the contractual penalty becomes payable.
• Sue for an injunction (Unterlassung) if the person does not sign a declaration.
• Demand removal from the platform. Platforms are generally not liable for third-party content as long as they know nothing about it. But as soon as they have been specifically notified of unlawful content, they must act. A letter from a lawyer with reasons often carries more weight than a report via the form.
• Claim monetary compensation or damages if the violation is serious. Whether that comes into question depends on the individual case.

The interim injunction

If things have to move fast, for example because a post on Instagram is just going around, a law firm can apply for an interim injunction (einstweilige Verfügung). This is an urgent procedure: a court can temporarily prohibit the person or the platform from spreading the content further, often within days or weeks.

This requires speed. Anyone who waits too long shows the court that the matter apparently is not urgent. Many courts view urgency critically after as little as about one month from knowledge. Anyone considering an interim injunction should therefore seek advice early.

What it costs – and who pays

Specific amounts cannot be given across the board. They depend on the procedure, the value in dispute and the agreement with the law firm. These routes can help:

Criminal complaint. The complaint itself costs nothing. Costs arise only if you have a lawyer accompany you.

Advice assistance (Beratungshilfe). If your income is low, you can apply to the local court (Amtsgericht) for an advice assistance voucher. With it you get legal advice for a small personal contribution.

Legal aid (Prozesskostenhilfe). For court proceedings, the court can grant legal aid if you cannot bear the costs yourself and the case has prospects of success. Depending on your income, you may have to repay it in instalments, in full or in part.

Legal expenses insurance. Check your policy or ask. Whether violations of personality rights or victim protection are covered differs from contract to contract. Many contracts exclude exactly this area; some offer it as an add-on.

Cost reimbursement by the other side. In civil proceedings, the losing party generally bears the costs. The costs of a justified formal warning can also be claimed from the person who caused them. Whether the money is actually paid in the end depends on whether the other side can pay.

Support from organisations. There are counselling centres and organisations that accompany people affected by digital violence and in some cases cover litigation costs.

Always clarify costs with the law firm beforehand. Ask which steps it proposes, what cost risk each carries and which financing options come into question in your case.

Criminal complaint or lawyer – which is right?

There is no rule for every case. A rough guide:

• Threats, doxxing, incitement to hatred: file a report. If you fear for your safety, contact the police immediately, in an emergency on 110 (the police emergency number in Germany).
• Insult or lies about you: a criminal complaint with a request for prosecution within the deadline. If you want the content to disappear and not to recur, the civil-law route also comes into question.
• Anonymous account that keeps going: criminal proceedings and the right to information are often the only routes to an identity.
• Content spreading quickly: then time counts. An interim injunction is only possible if it is urgent.

Whichever route you choose, little works without secured evidence. How to secure it properly is explained in Securing Evidence of Online Hate. What platforms have to do on their own is explained in Digital Services Act: What Platforms Must Do About Online Hate. A quick overview is given in What to Do About Hate Comments: 5 Concrete Steps.

How Hass-Hetze can help you

You do not have to work out on your own which route fits your case. Report your case via our form. We check your report for completeness and refer it to a partner law firm. You get legal advice there, not from us. The law firm will discuss with you which steps it considers sensible and which costs may arise.