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'Black' is a political self-designation used by Black people. People with African heritage or who identify as belonging to the African diaspora frequently refer to themselves as Black. The term does not refer to skin colour but rather to the shared experience and sociopolitical position of Black people in a society where whiteness is often viewed as the norm.

'Black' is capitalised to distinguish it from the adjective. It thus means that being Black does not mean looking a certain way, but rather being perceived in a racist way.

The term 'coloured' should not be used as this is a label imposed by European colonialists and continues to have a racist meaning today.

The term 'people of colour' is a political self-designation used by people who experience racism. People from various communities and backgrounds who share in common the experiences of disadvantage, marginalisation and discrimination that non-white people face in majority-white societies identify in this way. They use the joint self-designation to name their collective experiences and to better represent their shared interests.

The term 'people of colour' should not be confused with the term 'coloured', which is a discriminatory colonialist label imposed by white people and is intended to differentiate between and assign value to people based on the shade of their skin.

White is not a self-designation and is therefore written in lower case. Like the term 'Black', the term 'white' does not refer to skin colour. 'White' describes the social, political and cultural privileges that white people have relative to Black people and People of Colour, because they belong to the white social majority. The racism embedded in our society favours white people and assigns them a privileged, dominant position.

The term 'white' is important for naming and addressing white people's privilege. Having these privileges is not an individual fault, but it is an individual responsibility. The article 'Why talk about whiteness?' provides easy-to-understand explanations and helpful information for understanding and being aware of one's own privilege.

'Roma is both a self-description and the umbrella term for a heterogeneous group of people who immigrated to Europe, most likely from India, more than 1,000 years ago. The male singular form is Rom (plural: Roma); the female singular is Romni (plural: Romnja). Until the 1970s, the pejorative 'gypsies' (Z***uner) was common in Germany. [...]

Sinti is the term for descendants of the Roma groups that migrated to German-speaking areas in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The female singular form is Sintiza (plural: Sintize), and the male singular is Sinto (plural: Sinti). The Manouche are a Sinti subgroup that lives predominantly in France.' (Glossary from the New German Media Makers)

• More information  is available on the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma website.

'Cis' or 'cisgender' refers to people whose gender identity corresponds with the sex assigned to them at birth. The counterpart to cis is 'trans' or 'transgender'.

In our society it usually assumed that there are only two genders: male and female. This means that babies are usually assigned one of these two sexes at birth. The term 'cis' is important because it makes this societal norm and the accompanying privileges visible.

Not conforming to this norm frequently results in structural disadvantage and discrimination. A day-to-day example is gender-binary public toilets, which exclude trans, inter and non-binary people.

All people are registered with a sex at birth, but later on some people may not identify with the assigned gender. People who do not identify, or identify very little, with the sex assigned to them at birth may use the term 'trans'. The adjective 'trans' is an abbreviation of 'transgender' or 'transsexual', among other terms.

More information is available on the GLAAD website.

The term 'intersex' describes people whose bodies do not correspond to normative ideas of male or female, whether genetically, hormonally or anatomically. They have sex characteristics – for example, genitals or chromosomes – which are on a spectrum between those defined as unambiguously male or female. Even today this results in discrimination and human rights violations – for example, gender reassignment surgeries undertaken without the consent of the person concerned.

The gender identities and physical characteristics of intersex people are diverse. For this reason, describing 'intersex' as a third gender does not reflect the reality. Intersex people may also use the terms 'herm', 'genderqueer', 'genderfluid' or 'non-binary' (https://www.intersexequality.com/how-intersex-people-identify/).

People whose gender identity does not fit within the categories of male or female, and who consider themselves as between or outside of the two gender identities, may refer to themselves as non-binary.

People may refer to themselves as queer if they experience their sexuality and/or gender identity as not being in line with the binary system of gender and heteronormative ideas.

For example, a person with a non-binary gender identity can refer to themselves as queer. A cis woman who is attracted to people of different genders or independently of gender – i.e. does not just experience desire for men and women – can also refer to herself as queer.

The term thus indicates a rejection of the binary norm. For this reason, it is also used politically to represent the shared experiences, concerns and demands of queer people in society, where the gender binary is the norm.

• Together against illegal content online: On the Internet Complaints Office wesbite you can find information and get support with reporting illegal content.
• Hate Aid: We help people experiencing hate online  offers information and support to those impacted by online hate. (in German)

• Install anti-virus software.
• Download apps from trustworthy providers only.
• Regularly update apps.
• Use two-factor authorisation with all accounts.
• Use a VPN connection to connect with public, insecure Wi-Fi networks.

These cybersecurity tips for computers and smartphones can help you keep your devices and accounts secure.

• What can be done to combat hate speech? – Three tips for dealing with hate speech and fake news online
• Guide to online safety for the LGBTQ+ community

• #iamhere  – Moral courage online – Working together for a better debate culture
• No Hate Speech  is the German page of the EU movement against hate speech.
• INACH (International Network against Cyber Hate) offers online training sessions and a platform for networking.