Germany bans right-wing magazine in a blow to press freedom

Compact is anti-establishment and anti-immigration-but not advocating constitutional overthrow.

By Zoltán KOTTÁSZ

In what could only be considered a politicised attack on press freedom, Germany's interior ministry has  banned a right-wing magazine for "inciting hatred" and "aggressively propagating the toppling of the political order." Conservative media see the move as an attack on democracy and free speech by a government that has been using every political and legal means possible to undermine its political rival, the second strongest party in Germany.

The leftist-liberal government has not been shy in trying to hunt down its political opponents, be it the anti-immigration, anti-globalist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party or, as is now evident, right-wing media outlets that harshly criticise the cabinet's policies. While the government constantly talks about the dangers that "far right" circles pose on the democratic order of Germany, it is the ruling establishment that has abused and weaponised state institutions, including the domestic intelligence agency, the BfV (Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution) to brutally crack down on its political rivals.

The interior ministry on Tuesday, July 16th, banned the monthly Compact magazine, its website, the company that publishes it, Compact-Magazin GmbH, and the associated film production company, Conspect Film. Police searched the magazine's properties as well as the homes of key figures and leading shareholders in the states of Brandenburg, Hesse, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.

"The organisations are directed against the constitutional order," the interior ministry  said in a statement. The magazine "agitates in an unspeakable way against Jews, Muslims, and against our democracy. Our ban is a hard blow to the right-wing extremist scene," Interior Minister Nancy Faeser tweeted, calling the magazine "a central mouthpiece of the right-wing extremist scene."

Ich habe heute das rechtsextremistische ‚COMPACT-Magazin' verboten. Es agitiert auf unsägliche Weise gegen Jüdinnen und Juden, gegen Muslime und gegen unsere Demokratie.
Unser Verbot ist ein harter Schlag gegen die rechtsextremistische Szene.  t.co

- Nancy Faeser (@NancyFaeser)

Compact was established in 2010. With a circulation of 40,000, an X account with 42,000 followers, and a YouTube channel with 345,000 subscribers, it is a clearly anti-establishment, anti-immigration publication.

Nur noch 119 Karten für das Sommerfest von  #COMPACT. Mit Maximilian  #Krah, Martin  #Sellner und weiteren interessanten Rednern und Gästen. Weitere Infos und Tickets hier:  t.co  pic.twitter.com/huox2yu3g8

- COMPACT-Magazin (@COMPACTMagazin)

The magazine's website and online shop are already inaccessible due to Tuesday's ban, but its YouTube and X accounts remain public and active.

In 2020, Meta's Facebook and Instagram platforms removed Compact's accounts over 'hate speech.' The magazine was classified by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) in 2021 as extremist, nationalist and anti-minority. In its annual report for 2023, the agency said that the publication "regularly disseminates... antisemitic, anti-minority, historically revisionist and conspiracy theory content."

According to conservative publication Tichys Einblick, steps to isolate Compact-such as the removal of the magazine's Facebook account, the BfV's classification, and the fact that the magazine had already been banned from stores because of its "confirmed right-wing extremist" views-were already harmful enough, limiting the magazine's ability to reach out to new readers. The question remains therefore,  writes Tichys Einblick, whether the interior ministry's actions were really necessary. "The fact that the rule of law must also protect freedom of expression and freedom of the press is deliberately being ignored by the minister," the publication adds.

Conservative website Apollo News  questions whether Compact had indeed acted "combatively and aggressively" against the constitutional order. It is by no means evident that the magazine ever promoted physical violence. It would have had to call for the overthrow of the state order in a permanently aggressive manner for the ban to be justified. Compact regularly talks of the "lying press," "corrupt politicians," and of the "deep state." While such expressions are not to everyone's liking, writes Apollo News, they do not violate the constitution.

Another conservative publication, Junge Freiheit  believes a previous call by Jürgen Elsässer to "topple the regime" was probably aimed at the current leftist-liberal government.

The co-leaders of the right-wing opposition party AfD, which  came second in the European elections in June-also  stigmatised by the political establishment-condemned the decision to ban Compact, calling it "a serious blow to press freedom," and calling out Nancy Faeser for abusing her office to suppress critical reporting.

Alice  #Weidel/Tino  #Chrupalla: Das Verbot des  #Compact-Magazins ist ein schwerer Schlag gegen die  #Pressefreiheit

Bundesinnenministerin Nancy  #Faeser hat das Compact-Magazin sowie die Conspect Film GmbH verboten.  #AfD-Bundessprecher Tino Chrupalla und Dr. Alice Weidel äußert...  pic.twitter.com/0Enl8z6n9x

- AfD (@AfD)

In contrast, establishment parties praised the interior ministry. Michael Stübgen, Brandenburg's centre-right Christian Democratic Union Interior Minister,  said Compact is "hate and agitation at its finest," and alleged its only goal is "the destruction of our free society." Martina Renner, an MP for the hard-left Die Linke party welcomed the ban, saying the "network of anti-constitutional publicists, right-wing millionaires, authoritarian states must be brought to light."

Es geht nicht nur um die Rolle von  #Elsässer.  #Compact stellte sich in den Dienst der AfD und verfügt über beste Kontakte zu anderen extrem rechten Medien im Ausland. Das Netzwerk der verfassungsfeindlichen Publizisten, rechter Millionäre, autoritärer Staaten muss ans Licht. 2/2

- Martina Renner (@MartinaRenner)

The banned German magazine Compact is not to be confused with the  U.S. publication of the same name.

Original article:  The European Conservative

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