What to Do About Hate Comments: 5 Concrete Steps

Whether on Instagram, TikTok or in a WhatsApp group chat: when you receive hate comments, your first reaction is often shock. Some people want to write back straight away, others want to delete everything. Both are understandable. But if you go about it calmly and in order during the first days, you will have more options later. Digital evidence disappears quickly, and deadlines run for some legal steps.

These five steps help you regain control. You do not have to do everything in one day. The order of the first three steps does matter, though.

In acute danger? If someone is threatening you with violence in a specific way, or your address has been published and you fear for your safety, call the police straight away on 110 (the police emergency number in Germany). Everything else can wait.

Step 1: Secure evidence – immediately

Take screenshots before you report, block or delete anything. Once content is gone, it is hard to prove it ever existed. This also applies if the person deletes their own comment or renames their profile.

Good evidence shows what was said, who said it, where it appears and when. On a computer, keep the browser's address bar and the clock with the date visible. On a phone, the status bar usually shows only the time, so note the date separately. Also copy the link to the post and to the profile.

Example: Under your photo, an account called “truth_now” writes: “People like you should be locked up.” A screenshot of just that sentence is not enough. Also secure your photo, the comments before and after, the profile with its address and the link to the post. Only the context shows how the sentence was meant.

Securing Evidence of Online Hate explains step by step how to proceed on Instagram, TikTok, X, Facebook and WhatsApp.

Typical mistakes

• Capturing only the worst sentence instead of the whole thread.
• Cropping or marking screenshots. Edit only copies, never the originals.
• Blocking first. Afterwards you often can no longer see the profile and its content.

Step 2: Report the content to the platform

Use the platform's report function. You usually find it in the three-dot menu next to the post or comment. A report can lead to the content disappearing. It is not enough for legal steps against the person, but it documents that you took action.

Since 2024, the Digital Services Act has applied in the EU. It obliges platforms to review reports of illegal content carefully and to tell you their decision. If you disagree, you can lodge a complaint. How that works is explained in Digital Services Act: What Platforms Must Do About Online Hate.

How to make your report better:

• Choose the fitting category, such as “Harassment”, “Hate speech” or “Threat of violence”. If there is a separate route for illegal content, use it.
• Write one or two sentences on why the content is a problem, for example: “The comment threatens me with violence.”
• Note the date and, if shown, the number of your report.

Step 3: Don't hit back

Do not reply to hate comments. That is hard, especially when someone is spreading lies about you. But a reply usually fuels the situation further. It draws more people into the discussion, and everything you write will be read later – including by the police, a law firm or a court.

Insulting back also harms you. You risk being reported yourself. And if an insult is answered on the spot, a court can declare both sides exempt from punishment (§ 199 StGB) – including the person who started it.

What helps instead:

• Block, but only after securing evidence. Then the stream of messages stops, and your evidence is preserved.
• Restrict comments. Many platforms let you filter comments, allow only followers or hide certain words.
• Take a step back. Put your phone away. Ask someone you trust to read and secure new messages for you.

Step 4: Get help

You do not have to get through this alone. With Hass-Hetze you can report your case free of charge. We check your report for completeness. A person decides whether a partner law firm is a good fit. Your report is passed on only if you consent. The legal assessment comes from the law firm, not from us. If it takes on your case, it will get in touch with you.

This helps especially if you do not know who is behind an account. Finding that out takes criminal proceedings or a court-ordered disclosure by the platform. What is possible under civil law, such as an injunction or an interim injunction, is explained in Criminal Complaint or Lawyer?.

Important: a report to us is not a criminal complaint. The police will not hear about it. If you want to file a complaint, that is step 5.

You do not have to cope emotionally on your own either. Talk to people you trust. The German helpline Telefonseelsorge can be reached around the clock on 0800 111 0 111 (in German). Counselling centres for people affected by digital violence can help as well.

Step 5: File a criminal complaint

Many forms of online hate are criminal offences, such as insult, threats, defamation or incitement to hatred. Which provisions may apply is shown in Online Hate: What Is a Criminal Offence?.

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 costs nothing. Attach your screenshots, links and log. A law firm can accompany you, but it is not necessary.

Caution, deadline

Insult, defamation and malicious defamation are generally prosecuted only if you file a request for prosecution (Strafantrag). You have three months for this, from the day you learn of the act and of the identity of the offender. So state explicitly in your complaint: “I file a request for prosecution for all offences that may apply.” This also works against persons unknown.

Typical mistakes

• Waiting too long. Platforms and internet providers do not store data forever. The earlier you report, the better the chance of finding out who is behind an account.
• Forgetting the request for prosecution. For offences prosecuted on request, the complaint alone is not enough.
• Giving up because the account is anonymous. “Anonymous” rarely means “untraceable” online.

What you can do now

• Today, secure all the content you can still see: screenshots, links, profile addresses.
• Start a simple list: date, platform, profile, link, the content in a few keywords.
• Report the content to the platform and note down your reports.
• Report your case via our form if you want support with legal steps. A pseudonym is enough.
• File a criminal complaint if you want to go via the police. For insults, watch the three-month deadline.

And remember: you are not to blame for what others write about you. And you are not alone in this.