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The daily newspaper Der Standard reported that Austria’s police intelligence agency received 1 201 such criminal complaints between January and September, compared to 750 in the same period last year.
Significant increases were recorded especially in the areas of incitement and neo-Nazi activities, according to the ministry’s data.
The rising numbers corresponded to an actual increase in cases, rather than to growing readiness among the population to report such crimes, Der Standard quoted intelligence officials as saying.
The non-governmental racism watchdog group ZARA said many racist or inciting comments are made online, often in relation to postings or articles on migration.
“Internet postings can quickly result in criminal proceedings,” ZARA spokesperson Claudia Schaefer told dpa.
“We have noticed that authorities have started taking this issue seriously,” she added.
Schaefer said the rising numbers were the result of several factors, including not only the rising numbers of arriving migrants, but also the recent regional election successes of the right-wing Freedom Party (FPOe).
“People with racist sentiments feel vindicated by the election results and by the fact that FPOe is now a member of several regional governments,” Schaefer said.
