20260323 Demo gegen sexualisierte Gewalt

23.03.2026 Demo gegen sexualisierte Gewalt

Protest against sexual violence

Yesterday as well — especially on “Holy Sunday” — activists from Aktion Freiheit statt Angst were out on the streets. That’s because the large demonstration organized by the newly founded alliance “Feminist Fight Club” at the Brandenburg Gate in the afternoon focused on

structural injustices and legal loopholes in the context of digital and analog sexualized violence in Germany,
specifically, the creation of images or videos using artificial intelligence, self-determination over one’s own body,
the abuse of women (and children) under the guise of religion,
and against right-wing male fantasies.

More than 10,000 people had gathered peacefully for the rally, which had been announced at short notice; the police put the number at 6,700. Only a few troublemakers from the far-right scene, including the alleged “Captain Future” — known in the scene through video streaming on the internet — were escorted to the edge of the square by police. A spokeswoman on stage pointed this out with the words and a chant of “Nazis out”: “There is someone here doing some very uncool things.”

In the wake of the allegations and the current debate on digital violence, in solidarity with the TV host and actress Collien Fernandes, there has been not only an outcry in the media but also calls from right-wing parties for greater control and surveillance of the internet — even though the specific case has little to do with the internet. Tagesschau.de reports that Brandenburg’s Interior Minister Jan Redmann (CDU) demanded: “We must ensure that the police and security authorities can identify perpetrators online, prevent crimes, and effectively protect those affected.” However, he is correct in his assertion that deepfakes are not a trivial virtual matter. “Digital violence is real violence.”

Aktion Freiheit statt Angst has also called for the avoidance of AI-generated texts, images, and videos in its statement. We demand this not only for the obvious protection of people affected by deepfakes, but also because of the error-prone nature of AI programs and the unnecessary consumption of labor and energy involved in training them.