Stefan Weber | "Plagiarism hunter" receives counter

Stefan Weber, convicted of defamation, recently made headlines in February: For the magazine "Nius," which can easily be classified as right-wing extremist, the Austrian "plagiarism hunter" examined Robert Habeck's dissertation "The Nature of Literature." Julian Reichelt's tabloid maliciously concluded that the Green politician had worked unscientifically and deceived "on a grand scale." It omitted the fact that 24 years ago, less strict citation rules applied in the academic world.

Now Weber claims to have found linguistic similarities between Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf's dissertation and her husband's publications. In doing so, he has further thwarted the constitutional lawyer, who had been nominated by the SPD as a candidate for the Federal Constitutional Court. The self-appointed expert derived from this the suspicion that her husband may have been involved in the work as a ghostwriter and even questioned the accuracy of her affidavit to the contrary.

For more than two decades, Weber has attempted to destroy lives with exaggerated accusations. His more prominent cases include the academic works of current German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, then-EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn, and former Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger. While their former universities found no violation of academic standards, the reputations of the accused were nevertheless damaged. A joint hunt by "Nius" and Weber for a deputy editor-in-chief of the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" nearly ended in death, apparently leading to a suicide attempt.

People like Reichelt and Weber profit from many people's thirst for sensationalism. The "plagiarism hunter" is therefore more of a shitstorm fisherman, exploiting the ever-improving digital search capabilities for his own ends. The development of artificial intelligence provides him with additional tools. It is therefore to be expected that we will continue to hear from the activist. He has hinted at one direction: In an interview, Weber said that song lyrics and statements by celebrities could also be investigated.

Brosius-Gersdorf is now issuing Weber with a legal warning through her lawyers: He is to sign a cease-and-desist declaration, retract the allegations, and pay approximately €40,000 in legal fees. He has until August 13 to respond. Weber appears unimpressed, calling the demand a "bungled cease-and-desist request" in an online response. His dismissive response doesn't exactly make him more credible.