German court lifts ban on ‘mouthpiece for right-wing extremists'
The German government's ban on a far-right magazine described as the 'central mouthpiece' of extremists has been overturned.
Founded in 2010 and edited by Jürgen Elsässer, Compact magazine had considerable reach beyond the hard-right bubble. It claimed a print circulation of 40,000 a month and millions of views online.
The magazine was officially classified as an 'extremist organisation' by Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, in 2021. Among the conspiracy theories that it promotes is the concept of 're-migration', a dog whistle for deporting ethnic-minority Germans.
The magazine promotes conspiracy theories
SEAN GALLUP/GETTY IMAGES
Nancy Faeser took the step to ban the magazine last year when she was interior minister . She labelled Compact a 'central mouthpiece of the right-wing extremist scene' — citing its antisemitic, racist and anti-democratic content. A federal administrative court in Leipzig then suspended Faeser's ban, pending a final ruling on Compact's appeal, which was issued on Tuesday, declaring that even inflammatory speech remains protected under the country's laws.
The presiding judge, Ingo Kraft, concluded that Compact's output, while polemic and sharply worded, did not cross the threshold into active hostility against the democratic order. 'The basic law guarantees freedom of opinion and the press even for enemies of freedom,' Kraft said.
Nancy Faeser ordered a ban on the magazine's publisher last year
MAXIMILIAN SCHWARZ/REUTERS
Germany's basic law provides MPs with the means to crack down on parties and speech like Holocaust denial that are deemed unconstitutional — a learning from its fascist past. However, there are no provisions allowing the ban of publications.
The interior ministry had resorted to banning the organisation that publishes Compact. The court said, however, that this violated the proportionality requirements as subversive activities were not central to its mission. Even sharp critiques of migration policy and revisionist takes on history must be tolerated in a pluralistic democracy, the court argued.
The ruling comes as a blow to proponents of a crackdown on extremism, as the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has surged to become Germany's second-largest party.
In 2021, Germany's government had tightened laws punishing abuse against politicians. In one such case a journalist at a far-right magazine was convicted for sharing a manipulated image of Faeser showing her holding a fake sign with the words 'I hate freedom of opinion'.
• What is AfD? The reasons behind rise of the hard right in Germany
Elsässer celebrated the Compact ruling, and predicted that, if Compact could not be banned, then it would be impossible to ban the AfD.
The Social Democrats, the junior partner in Germany's coalition government, announced on Monday that they would push to start proceedings on banning the AfD, which was also recently labelled 'extremist' by the Verfassungsschutz.
Alexander Dobrindt, the current interior minister, said the government would respect and review the ruling, but added that 'banning organisations remains an applicable and possible tool against extremist endeavours'.
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