German Censorship Highlights Europe’s Eroding Free Speech Protections
There’s a lot to dislike about Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), the nativist–populist party that came in second in the country’s recent election, but the party’s battles against government suppression of its efforts to recruit supporters and criticize rivals aren’t among them. Then again, members of the AfD aren’t alone in being targeted for voicing disapproved ideas; across Germany, the U.K., and elsewhere in Europe, declining respect for liberal norms is breeding censorship and arrests for offending politicians.
State Surveillance of the Main Opposition Party
“Germany’s spy agency BfV has labeled the entirety of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as an extremist entity,” the German state-owned Deutsche Welle reported May 2. “The designation gives authorities greater powers to monitor the party, with measures such as intercepting phone calls and using undercover agents.”
The designation was quickly suspended pending an appeal and as the government contends with the unavoidable fact that the AfD is the main opposition party in the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament. In February’s election, the country’s conservative Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU), came in first with 28.6 percent, the AfD won 20.8 percent, and the previous main governing party, the Social Democrats (SDP), pulled 16.4 percent. The CDU/CSU and the SDP formed a coalition, which left the AfD the largest bloc of opposing legislators.
Putting the main opposition party under an “extremist” designation subject to surveillance is a frightening step for a democracy.
“One of the things I appreciate about America is that when the federal government attacks free speech there’s instant pushback by civil society,” Jacob Mchangama, the head of The Future of Free Speech think tank at Vanderbilt University, responded to the controversy. “People take to the streets. In Europe free speech has been in steep decline for years, but there’s no real public outcry, no mainstream concern about democratic backsliding. In fact, the Old World is in a state of delusional ‘Censorship Denial.'”
This wasn’t an isolated incident. Last month, David Bendels, an AfD-associated editor, was sentenced to seven months’ probation for posting a mocking meme of former German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser holding a sign digitally altered to say the German equivalent o
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