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German state-owned broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) applied a clear double standard in handling Islamophobia accusations from one of its employees, an investigation by °źÂț”ș (TNA) can establish, in sharp contrast with how it handled equivalent complaints regarding alleged antisemitism.

The complaint, submitted through DW’s internal whistleblowing platform by an employee of DW’s Persian-language service on 16 October 2024, accuses a colleague of “hate speech, harassment and violations of DW guidelines”.

DW’s Compliance Office, which that the organisation complies with the law, disagreed with the whistleblower, and closed the complaint without further action against the employee in question.Ìę

This decision left many DW employees frustrated and distrustful, especially after it led to the deletion of multiple social media posts, which had been collected as evidence of the misconduct.

Writing to TNA by email, the whistleblower said they wanted to expose what they viewed as an ineffective reporting mechanism within DW, which “not only fails to address the root of the problem but also discourages staff from reporting further incidents”.

In their view, DW’s response is indicative of “systemic discrimination and accountability issues” within the media organisation, especially in light of DW’s of seven Arab journalists in 2022 over accusations of antisemitism on social media.

“Our aim is to highlight the inconsistency in DW’s adherence to its . While the organization takes immediate action on anti-Semitism allegations, often based on tenuous evidence, it demonstrates a pattern of tolerance toward Islamophobia and racism, contradicting its stated values,” the whistleblower stated.

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TNA contacted Deutsche Welle and its compliance office for comments.Ìę

A spokesperson for Deutsche Welle denied the accusation of a double standard. “We take all reports of alleged discrimination or misconduct seriously and review them in the same way – whether it is a case of alleged antisemitism, alleged islamophobia, or any other type of discrimination,” they wrote.

“All employees know our values, which are stated in our Code of Conduct. [The Code] also states that DW employees are obligated to maintain restraint in the content and form of their social media and other publications in both a professional and private context,” the spokesperson told TNA.

TNA contacted the employee accused of misconduct for comments. We did not receive a reply in time for publication.

Xenophobic and Islamophobic tweets

TNA was able to confirm that the whistleblower is currently an employee at Deutsche Welle.

In their complaint, they accused a DW Farsi colleague of making “offensive and defamatory” social media posts on X.

In attachment to their complaint, the whistleblower included a list of some 70 posts made by their colleague over a period of four years, from 2015 to 2018. The journalist’s employment at DW did not start until 2022.

“Tweets include vulgar language aimed at specific ethnic and religious groups, particularly Arabs, inappropriate sexual references, and personal attacks based on appearance and beliefs,” stated the complaint.

°źÂț”ș reviewed all 70 posts included in the complaint.

We found that while at least 17 of them could be deemed offensive or defamatory, 15 referred to Muslims and Islam in generalising and negative terms, and could therefore be qualified as Islamophobic. Five posts were xenophobic towards Afghans, Turks, Arabs and Americans.

Of the 70 posts included in the complaint, some 58 were deleted after they were reported. However, copies of the posts were archived on internet archiving platforms.

Access to the journalist’s X account was also made private following the complaint, meaning only “approved followers” could see their posts.

DW’s Compliance Office eventually closed the complaint without action against their employee. Instead, the office told the whistleblower that “a general action plan to stabilize the Farsi service” was being initiated.

We contacted Deutsche Welle for comments on the decision of its compliance office, and what its general action plan entailed.

“We ask for your understanding that we cannot make specific statements about individual cases,” a DW spokesperson said.

“Various measures are currently taking place [at DW Farsi], from one-to-one interviews with all team members to team workshops and an anonymous risk assessment. These measures are intended to establish a trusting and constructive work culture,” the spokesperson added.

Parallels to the 2021 antisemitism scandal

In the text of their complaint, the whistleblower drew parallels to DW’s response to allegations of antisemitism made against seven Arab journalists in 2021.

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In December 2021, DW external investigators to review whether statements made online by six employees and one freelancer the organisation’s principles, which include a “clear commitment to Israel's right to exist and a clear stance against antisemitism”.Ìę

The investigation led to the of all seven journalists in February 2022, though some of them have been reinstated since.

In March 2023, Arabic-language Palestinian news website Arab48 shortcomings in the proceedings of the external investigation. TNA republished the report in English in August 2023.

Arab48 also found that the firings had created a culture of “anxiety” within DW’s Arabic-language department at the time. An employee, who wished to remain anonymous, told Arab48 that everyone was worried about being next, and was trawling through their past Palestine-related social media posts.

In their correspondence with us, the whistleblower explained what they meant by their accusation of a double standard.

“To contextualise this disparity, consider the case of Farah Maraqa [one of the DW dismissed employees]. A couple of tweets from seven years before her employment at DW were used to justify her dismissal, without allowing her an opportunity to defend herself,” the whistleblower said.

DW Farah Maraqa for articles she had written for Jordanian news outlet Roya between 2014 and 2017. Maraqa started working for Deutsche Welle, first as a freelancer in 2017, then as an employee in 2021.

Before her dismissal, Maraqa distanced herself from her prior articles in a statement, which DW’s spokesperson office had helped to draft.

“I accept the fact that I have realized that some of my work as a young journalist in Amman was not appropriate by Western standards [...] Since I joined in 2017, my track record proves that I have adhered to the journalistic guidelines of DW. I stand for those values ​​professionally and as a person,” read the statement.

She also further the intent of her articles in a series of posts she on her blog.

Despite this, Maraqa was part of the group of employees subjected to the external investigation. Ultimately, DW dismissed her on 7 February 2022 with immediate effect. At the time, Maraqa on X that her notice of termination had been served “without further explanations”.

We asked Deutsche Welle why it did not launch an external investigation into allegations of Islamophobia against its employee, based on their public statements, like in the case of Maraqa.

A spokesperson for DW told us that “a comparison of the two mentioned cases is only partially possible, as each case must be evaluated individually.”

“[The DW Farsi employee] has credibly and extensively distanced [themselves] from their old social media posts,” said the spokesperson.

“It was particularly important to consider that the posts were from 2017 or earlier, and since then, a change in public perception has been noticeable. You can verify this by simply reviewing the X account,” the spokesperson added. TNA was not able to conduct such a review, as the employee’s posts on X are no longer publicly accessible.

It is also not clear whether the employee accused of Islamophobia has indeed changed their views.

“Since 2022, [the employee] has refrained from posting explicit racist or Islamophobic remarks on Twitter,” the whistleblower told us.Ìę

However, the employee “has directly made discriminatory comments in private conversations with many colleagues, specifically targeting those wearing headscarves. Unfortunately, these verbal remarks lack documented evidence, and identifying witnesses could place them at risk,” they stated.

In December 2024, employees at DW to Al-Jazeera how anti-Arab and Islamophobic slurs were openly used in the newsroom. One employee stated that senior management also expressed “a lot of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab sentiment”.

When asked to comment, a spokesperson for DW said it “vehemently rejects the accusations made in the article of Al Jazeera.”

Closed case?

According to the whistleblower, DW will soon have an opportunity to show it can change course in how it deals with internal issues of Islamophobia.

“, the current Director-General, is set to in the summer of 2025,” they explained in an email. A new director is due to be appointed.Ìę

After their complaint was closed, the whistleblower contacted some members of the Broadcasting Board to report their frustration, but did not hear back.

The Rundfunkrat (or ) is the at DW, and is tasked with “represent[ing] the interests of the general public at Deutsche Welle”.

The whistleblower contacted Bishop Dr. , of the Broadcasting Board, as well as for Culture and Media Claudia Roth and Foreign Office Katja Keul.

TNA contacted Bishop JĂŒsten by email, who confirmed to us that the whistleblower had written to him on 5 November 2024.

“The Broadcasting Board supports DW in its clear stance against any form of discrimination. This also includes anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and homophobia,” said Bishop JĂŒsten. “If there are complaints about these and other issues, the relevant departments at DW will deal with them,” he added.

A spokesperson for Keul’s office also confirmed receiving the follow up complaint, stating: “We take accusations of islamophobia very seriously. We have informed Deutsche Welle about these accusations.”

TNA also contacted the office of the federal commission for media, which DW’s federal budget.Ìę

A spokesperson stated that “the email to [the commission] was written anonymously. Even though [the commission] does not respond to anonymous letters in accordance with the Federal Government's rules of procedure, it has investigated the complaint and asked DW for a statement.”

“DW has plausibly assured that it took action immediately after receiving the internal report and carried out an investigation in accordance with the established standards for such cases,” the spokesperson added.

“In addition, the Broadcasting Council [i.e. Board] discussed the case at its meeting today [on 2 December 2024]. DW's actions were noted and not objected to,” concluded the spokesperson.

For Deutsche Welle and the Broadcasting Board, the case seems therefore to be closed.

The whistleblower told TNA that many more employees at DW are now aware of the organisation’s double standard response.

“Information about the tweets has already spread beyond the Persian department, with individuals from Arabic, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh sections aware,” they said in an email.

According to them, DW’s Compliance Office also threatened them with legal action if they escalated the issue further.

In a message sent on 29 October 2024, DW’s Compliance Office pointed out that “external reports or escalations [...] could be a breach” of the whistleblower’s employment.

“Even if our actions were deemed illegal, they pale in comparison to the unethical practices carried out by Deutsche Welle,” the whistleblower told us.

Disconnect between management and staff

We asked Dr. , professor at the Institute for Media and Communication Studies in the Free University of Berlin, whether a more diverse broadcasting board would help to address concerns raised by DW staff.

The 17-member board is made up of governmental appointees as well as representatives of German civil society organisations.

The German and Churches, as well as the can each appoint one member of the board. But the German Muslim community does not have a single representative in this body.

Dr. Carola Richter, a member of DW’s broadcasting board, told TNA that there should be more ethnic, religious and racial diversity in it as this would ensure that a wider range of societal perspectives can be included in the decision-making processes.

“A lack of the inclusion of these diversity dimensions is a problem in most of the broadcasting boards in Germany,” Dr. Richter added.

In the view of Dr. Anna-Esther Younes, Palestinian-German scholar of race critical theories, improving diversity at the top is not enough.

“Maybe the critical voice of a Muslim, Arab, or of a person of color would help, but individual representational politics of ‘race’ do not solve the underlying issue of racism. Let's not forget: those Muslims who are invited into positions talking to or for the state, are those that are already not seen as a threat to the political status quo,” Dr. Younes said.

The Palestinian-German scholar mentioned other factors which could explain the disconnect between DW’s management and some of its employees.

“A delusional and arrogant eurocentric mentality and ideology. Colonial arrogance and racist chauvinism,” Dr. Younes stated.

“Any major institution governed by public funding is nothing but a representation of society on a miniscule scale,” she added.

DW is directly funded from the Federal state’s budget - some ($494 million) in 2023 alone.

“Hence, assuming that there would be no anti-Muslim racism or repression of Arabs, Muslim or people of colour at DW would be delusional. Racism is a structure, not a punctual problem of ‘some individuals’,” explained Dr. Younes.

Zahi Allawi, former media trainer at DW Arabic, had a similar ‘diagnosis’.

“The entire system is rotten”, said Allawi, ”the problem is not who is acting as director-general or as deputy. The problem is that they have a condescending attitude.”

Allawi was one of the seven Arab journalists to be dismissed in 2022.

“Yes, there is a double standard, not only in DW, but in all of German media,” he added.

Another former DW Arabic employee, who wished to remain anonymous, suggested a potential remedy.

“The first thing would be to stop teaching and start listening,” they told TNA.

“They keep dealing with [the Middle East] as a region that needs education, and they are dealing with their own employees who are coming from that region as people who need education,” they added.

The former DW Arabic employee concluded: “When DW will start to deal with their Middle Eastern employees as equals, they will improve a lot.