German 'snitch on your teacher' website knocked offline

A far-right German politician's website that let pupils denounce teachers for being too political was knocked offline within hours of its launch by what its creator said was a hacker attack.

On Friday, the website, launched by Stefan Raepple, who represents the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the regional parliament of Baden-Wuerttemberg, was showing a message promising to return shortly. "Our site was hit by a hacker attack," the message read.

Justice Minister Katarina Barley labeled the denunciation tactic a "tool of dictators" familiar from Communist East Germany and the Nazi era. AfD deputy leader Georg Pazderski defended the site as necessary because pupils in many schools were exposed to a "one-sided left-green world view".

Reuters was unable to confirm independently that the site had been hacked, and if so, by whom.

One of Germany's most senior spies has promised a decision by the end of the year on whether the AfD should be monitored for unconstitutional activities.

The party - mindful of the penalties including a full ban it could face if it were found to be unconstitutional or anti-democratic by the domestic security services, has set up a working group to try to ward off the threat of observation.

The site mirrors tactics used by other far-right parties to compete for public attention.

In the Netherlands, anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders invited people to denounce "nuisance" immigrants in their neighborhoods. The site he created, though short lived, dramatically raised his domestic and international profile.