The top security official of Germany announced Tuesday that she plans to make it easier for the government to track the finances and communications of “right-wing extremists,” adding that she plans to create an “early recognition unit” to detect far-right and disinformation efforts.
Currently, the German state is allowed to engage in financial surveillance when political parties and movements are showing signs of “inciting” violence and of being “violence-oriented.” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser specified that she would expand this power to allow investigations to be triggered by potential threats. She also wants the proceedings to be quicker and to have fewer checks and balances.
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“No one who donates to a right-wing extremist organization should be able to rely on remaining undiscovered,” she said. She added the issue can connect with concerns over disinformation: “German right-wing extremists and foreign autocrats have one thing in common: They want to stoke rage and divide, above all through disinformation.”
As Valuetainment previously reported, the World Economic Forum listed “Misinformation and Disinformation” as the number one threat to global security over the next two years.
Faeser also listed bots and AI-generated photos and videos as critical issues in the information landscape.
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This comes after reports on Sunday that right-wing populist party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) nearly doubled its support in many areas of the country since voters last cast their ballots in September 2021. In one area, the eastern district of Marzahn-Hellersdorf, AfD received the most votes of any party at 33.1 percent. By comparison, in 2021 it received only 18.5 percent in the same district. While not all citizens in the city were allowed to vote and the turnout was lower, it shows that the most committed voters were AfD supporters.
Bundestagswahl – Teilwiederholung in Berlin • Der letzte, die #btw21 wiederholende Wahlbezirk ist ausgezählt.
Wahlbeteiligung: 50,6 % – zum Vergleich 2021: 76,7 %
🔗https://t.co/tpd8nlm6v0#Wahlwiederholung pic.twitter.com/7S7355cRiU
— Wahlrecht.de (@Wahlrecht_de) February 12, 2024
The new surveillance unit will be based at the Interior Ministry and will start “hopefully in a few months,” Faeser said.
German intelligence claims there is a rising number of far-right extremists in the country, with a recorded 38,800 individuals in 2022—14,000 of which they consider “potentially violent.”
Shane Devine is a writer covering politics, economics, and culture for Valuetainment. Follow Shane on X (Twitter).
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