A new report has uncovered alarming tendencies in Germany with regard to freedom of speech as the country’s crucial elections draw close.
Authored by Sabine Beppler-Spahl and published by the think tank MCC Brussels, Silencing alternatives–Germany’s war on free speech shows how the German government has resorted to the abuse of its expansive hate speech and defamation laws to target those who oppose establishment policies. The author cites shocking examples of ordinary citizens being fined, imprisoned, or having their homes raided simply for sharing negative comments about government ministers or ruling party politicians.
In one especially egregious case, in which the authorities stretched Germany’s incitement of the masses law, a 74-year-old woman was fined thousands of euros for criticizing Germany’s immigration policies on Facebook.
The report also reveals that the government is systematically labelling opposition politicians as extremist, with the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) continually monitoring them, and restricting their ability to campaign and engage with the public. Alternative für Deutschland (AfD)—now the second most popular party in Germany and clearly viewed as a threat for the establishment left-wing and center-right parties ahead of the elections—has been classified by the BfV as a “suspected case” of right-wing extremism, limiting the party’s media access.
According to the report, apart from the lawfare that the German government engages in, dissenting organizations and individuals are also hit hard by the self-censorship that establishment media outlets impose on themselves, stifling meaningful debate on controversial issues on their platforms for fear of legal retaliation.
In their press release presenting the reports, MCC Brussels notes that under the guise of its “defensive democracy” doctrine, the German government has created a “climate of fear” where less than half of Germans feel it is safe to express their political views.
The full report can be read here.
