As Helga Zepp-LaRouche told associates in a discussion on July 22, the shutdown of the German magazine Compact and related operations by the German government executive power, bypassing legitimate judicial action, is a dangerous precedent towards the elimination of free speech in the country, consistent with the EU’s “democratic” elimination of opposition voices. Whereas the left-libertarian camp in Europe raised almost no voice of protest, the German section of Reporters Sans Frontières (Reporters without Borders) protested against the ban in a statement on their website July 19.
“In the past, the far-right magazine Compact has repeatedly disseminated conspiracy theory, xenophobic and anti-Semitic narratives, including Russian propaganda,” RSF wrote. “Nevertheless, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) considers the ban on the magazine issued by the Interior Ministry on July 16, 2024, on the basis of the law regarding associations considered questionable in terms of the rule of law. After all, freedom of the press also applies to inconvenient and difficult-to-tolerate publications, including those with extreme content.
“In its ban order, the Interior Ministry cites evidence of anti-human rights and anti-constitutional content. However, the ban by means of association law—which affects not only the printed magazine, but also several print and online media, and also numerous social media presences—raises the question of whether criminal proceedings against specific content and the individuals people responsible for it would not have been more appropriate with regard to the fundamental right of freedom of the press.
