My name is Karolin Schwarz. I am a freelance writer, journalist, consultant and expert on disinformation, right-wing extremism on the internet and right-wing terrorism. I give lectures and trainings worldwide, for example in Sweden, Singapore, Bulgaria, Bangladesh and Lebanon.
From 2020 to 2022, I worked for Irish tech startup Kinzen together with leading social media platforms on strategies for dealing with online harms, like disinformation, right-wing extremism, conspiracy ideologies and hate speech. For organizations such as Reset, ISD and das Nettz, I have worked as a consultant and analyst in research projects on disinformation in the context of elections and organized hate online as well as in the design of projects aimed at promoting media literacy.
My book “Hasskrieger: Der neue globale Rechtsextremismus” (“Hate Warriors: The new global far right”) was published in February 2020. It deals with both continuities and innovations in digital right-wing extremism.
In February 2016, I founded Hoaxmap.org, which collected false reports about refugees and PoC. The project was nominated for the Grimme Online Award, the Alternative Media Award and the journalism prize “Der lange Atem”.
In 2020, I was an expert witness in the Halle terrorism trial, assessing the impact of digital right-wing terrorist networks. In April 2019 I was invited as an expert to a hearing in the Bundestag on the subject of election manipulation. My written statement can be found online. From 2019 to 2021, I was a member of the nominating committee of the Grimme Online Award.
I was also the editor in charge of a video series called about:blank in 2017-2018, covering topics of online safety and harms. In the past, I have worked as a fact-checker at Correctiv.org and as a community manager at Jäger & Sammler (funk) and the Leipziger Volkszeitung.