23.10.2017
“Stop Hate”: ARAG launches Instagram campaign against cyberbullying
The ARAG Group is stepping up its commitment to protecting personal rights and combating violence on the Internet and voicing its opposition to cyber violence on Instagram. Under the theme "Stop Hate", the Düsseldorf family enterprise is taking a stand against the growing wave of hate and baiting in the Web, while calling for civil courage and digital empathy on the Internet. Crude insults and slander are rapidly becoming increasingly common, especially in social networks, online forums and interactive portals. What was once regarded as a phenomenon confined primarily to youth has quickly evolved into a challenge to society as a whole. The “Stop Hate” campaign is intended not only to heighten awareness of the problem, but also to inform and point out possibilities for sustainable prevention.
"Stop Hate" will be posted as an Instagram Story Ad between Instagram stories. From there, readers can access www.hass-streichen.de and learn all about the campaign (available in German only).
The ARAG Group has been concerned with the issue of protecting personal rights on the Internet for many years. Since mid-2013, the family enterprise has conducted a number of in-depth studies focused on developing a more thorough grasp of the phenomenon of cyberbullying. ARAG recently released a comparative survey of international experts (the ARAG Digital Risks Survey) which documented a marked increase in cyber violence among children, youth and adults in all of the seven countries examined. Furthermore, ARAG launched an extensive Conflict Management in Schools program – primarily in North Rhine-Westphalia – and is still supporting it since April 2014. One training module is entitled “Cyberbullying and Prevention.” Thus far, teachers, school social workers and parents from 84 secondary school have participated in the training program and been certified as school mediators. The ARAG Group plans to launch the “bildung.digital” (digital education) program in collaboration with its partner, the German Children and Youth Foundation (Deutsche Kinder- und Jugendstiftung), in late November 2017.
“We have learned through many years of experience in dealing with these issues that fundamental values and personal rights are systematically undermined by cyberbullying and cyber violence,” explains Klaus Heiermann, Chief Representative of ARAG SE. “Equality of opportunity is the basic principle upon which ARAG was founded, and it remains an essential element and supporting pillar of the ARAG business model. We plan to remain proactive in this context in order to ensure that the Internet enhances the quality of life, rather than destroying it.”