Austria ranks highly when it comes to internet freedom. The government is blocking websites that spread information and content that violate the law. This usually means shutting down neo-Nazi, Holocaust denial, and child pornography websites. Austria is also very serious about enforcing laws that concern hate speech.
However, in 2019, the government suggested a new plan to tie user IDs to their real IDs. The law would affect websites of over 100,000 users and require operators to hand out their users’ data linked to their nicknames. The government would be able to request this data in case of criminal investigations. Activists fear the government wants to silence government critics – not combat hate speech.