Political Streamer freiraumreh on her Job and Communication About Civil Search and Rescue

Kim (aka freiraumreh) streams on Twitch from Sunday to Thursday several hours each day. She used to do gaming streams, but now she talks about various emotional topics and political issues. In the last two days, she streamed from aboard Humanity 1 and spoke with eight people from the crew and the team of SOS Humanity. I meet her after the streams on the ship:
How did you get into streaming and talking about political topics in your streams?
I started nine years ago, and actually, because I felt bored. Back then, I was doing gaming and sort of stumbled into this streaming thing. It was more of a coincidence and a gap between jobs. It’s crazy to realise how much streaming has become a huge part of my life today: I streamed gaming for five years, but for the last four years, I have exclusively streamed about political and interpersonal topics. Everything emotional, things that move people. And that is always linked to political questions in some way, which is why we now talk about many political issues.
Five or six years ago, I developed in a new direction in my private life. I became really interested in sustainability topics – minimalism, zero waste, etc. – and I reorganized my life around that. At the same time, gaming didn’t seem to be what moved me. And whenever I touched on the new topics, the community was enthusiastic about them. Over time, it became more and more political. There are many new people in the streams, but a few have been around since 2015 – their lives have changed too, and they continue to watch the streams. That’s really cool.
What is it like for you to be here on the rescue ship Humanity 1?
A completely different world. Right now, as we are doing this interview, I have just come out of two days of streaming with eight interviews, and I have taken in so many impressions, lifestyles, and realities – it feels like a whole world that I have missed for many years.
What do you take away from the conversations on board?
What sticks in my mind the most are the personal stories I heard second-hand. Stories from people who, for the first time, felt safe on this ship where we are right now. And the second thing, which I also want to address in my stream, is the political situation. There is a lot happening on the European level and we will have federal elections next year. I am leaving here with the thought of what I can do with my job and reach to make a change or give people something to take away.

What do you think can be done to draw more attention to search and rescue?
I think, above all, communication needs to change. Everyone has heard of search and rescue, but no one really has a clear idea of what it is. It’s a term that we don’t associate with anything concrete, at least nothing real. It’s urgently necessary to move away from the populist debates and instead give civil search and rescue a face, a movement, or a feeling.
What I take with me is also the question of how I can help redirect these debates. How do I respond to someone in the chat who writes, “Because of migrants, I can’t find an apartment anymore”? How do I tell that person: Yes, the problem you have is real, but that’s not a debate we should have at the expense of search and rescue or the survivors of sea rescues. That’s nonsense. How do we shift this back? I believe it’s largely about linking search and rescue to something that aligns with reality and not the current political, right-wing populist debate.

How do you deal with right-wing or aggressive comments in your streams?
In specific cases, I can do a lot as a streamer – if I respond aggressively to such comments, people will respond aggressively too. So I have to weigh whether to hold myself back, even though I want to scream because I’ve heard these typical comments 5,000 times, and the knowledge that responding that way won’t reach anyone. That means I try to respond to the comments calmly and with patience. Sometimes I manage to reach people that way, but of course, not everyone. It’s probably a 50/50 ratio of people who refuse to budge from their views and others who are open to different perspectives.
What do you wish for in terms of communication about civil search and rescue?
We need search and rescue to carry a message, and we need people who can translate and communicate that message to the public. I don’t think that search and rescue organisations can do that alone. We need strong journalism and strong politics that convey search and rescue in an honest and realistic way. Influencers can also contribute to this. We need people with a platform, who take up this issue and bring it to the public. That’s what I would wish for, especially from our broad mass of influencers.
[This interview was conducted by online communications intern Hannah Förster onboard Humanity 1 in September 2024 and in German.]