A court in Germany on Tuesday, June 24th, overturned the ban on the right wing Compact magazine, initially imposed in July 2024 by then Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (of the Social Democrats).
The ruling marks a significant victory of press freedom over the liberal elites who have been trying to censor free speech and silence conservative voices.
Germany’s federal administrative court in Leipzig ruled that although Compact spreads extremist ideas, its content still falls under constitutionally protected press and free speech rights.
It said that criticism of pro-migration policies, Corona-vaccine measures or Germany’s military aid for Ukraine may be exaggerated or extreme, but are not in themselves incompatible with human dignity or the principle of democracy, and are also not unconstitutional.
The court confirmed its earlier August 2024 decision that suspended the ban in an emergency ruling. Compact can continue publication both in print and online.
Compact is an anti-establishment, anti-immigration publication founded in 2010. It has a circulation of 40,000, an X account that counts 78,000 followers, and a YouTube channel with 515,000 subscribers. Its number of followers has rapidly increased since last year’s ban.
Editor-in-chief Jürgen Elsässer called the ruling “a great victory for freedom of expression.”
This case highlights a troubling trend: Germany’s liberal progressive political elites appear increasingly ready to suppress dissenting voices—no matter how controversial—under the banner of combating extremism.
