Federal Minister of the Interior and Community Nancy Faeser today banned the right-wing extremist companies COMPACT-Magazin GmbH and CONSPECT FILM GmbH.
The organisations are directed against the constitutional order within the meaning of Article 9 of the Basic Law and section 3 of the Act Governing Private Associations. Under certain conditions, companies too may be banned under that Act.
By court order, 339 law enforcement officers began searching 14 properties in the federal states of Brandenburg, Hesse, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt in the early morning hours. Officers seized magazines, smartphones, IT equipment, cash, gold, data storage media, documents, merchandising articles and other products for sale in the company’s online shop, sound and stage equipment, vehicles, office furniture, company bank accounts and bank account documents. The websites have been blocked. The social media platforms used by the banned right-wing extremist organisations were informed in order to shut down the organisations’ channels.
Today’s banning order prohibits any further activities on the part of the organisations. Acting against this ban constitutes a criminal offence.
Stopping those who incite hate and violence
“Our ban is a major blow to the right-wing extremist scene. It shows that we are also taking action against those who incite hatred and violence against refugees and migrants and seek to overthrow our democratic state,” Federal Minister Faeser said.
With its monthly magazine, online video channel COMPACT-TV and in numerous social media, COMPACT-Magazin GmbH spread revisionist conspiracy theories which are antisemitic, racist and hostile to minorities. By popularising and widely disseminating right-wing extremist ideas of the “New Right”, it promoted a racist and nationalist view of society from which persons of other ethnicities are to be excluded.
The content disseminated by COMPACT-Magazin GmbH also sought to denigrate members of certain ethnic groups, in particular those of Arab origin, as inferior human beings by attributing to the entire ethnic group negative characteristics such as a tendency to violence and crime. Such content is intended to create a social and political climate which excludes these ethnic groups.
Today’s measures were prepared and carried out by the police forces of the federal states concerned and by the state-level domestic intelligence agencies as well as the Federal Police, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV). Federal Minister Faeser thanked the federal and state security authorities involved for their closely coordinated and decisive action. She also expressed special thanks to the officers who conducted the extensive searches today.
Frequently asked questions about the ban on COMPACT-Magazin GmbH and CONSPECT FILM GmbH
Why was COMPACT-Magazin GmbH banned?
COMPACT-Magazin GmbH has long been a focus of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution; it was placed under surveillance as a confirmed right-wing extremist organisation as early as 2021. Before that, in March 2020 it was categorised as a suspected right-wing extremist threat and placed under observation.
COMPACT-Magazin GmbH was banned because it opposes the constitutional order. In pursuing its anti-constitutional aims, COMPACT-Magazin GmbH demonstrates an aggressively militant stance towards the constitutional system. This aggressive, militant and anti-constitutional stance is fundamental for COMPACT. This means that COMPACT-Magazin GmbH meets the conditions for an association ban under section 3 (1) sentence 1 variant 2 in conjunction with section 17 no. 1 alternative 1 of the Act Governing Private Associations (Vereinsgesetz).
But is a media company an association?
Companies can also be banned under section 17 of the Act Governing Private Associations. Both COMPACT-Magazin GmbH and CONSPECT FILM GmbH oppose the constitutional order within the meaning of Article 9 of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz) and section 3 of the Act Governing Private Associations in conjunction with section 17 no. 1 of that Act.
Were the freedom of the press and freedom of expression taken into consideration when banning COMPACT?
Freedom of the press and freedom of expression are essential for democracy to function. But even these freedoms have limits. COMPACT-Magazin GmbH deliberately misused its media products to spread its anti-constitutional message far and wide. It was feared that the racist, antisemitic, anti-minority, revisionist content and conspiracy theories in these media products, which aggressively promote the overthrow of the political system, would incite their audience to actively oppose the constitutional order. In weighing up the different legally protected interests, the purpose of the ban – to protect the state, its existence and its constitutional order against the possible threat from anti-constitutional activities – took precedence over the freedom of the press and of expression.
Have other media products been banned in the past?
Yes, for example Mezopotamien Verlag und Vertrieb GmbH in 2019, the internet platform Linksunten.Indymedia in 2017 and the neo-Nazi internet platform Altermedia in 2016.
What exactly was banned?
COMPACT-Magazin GmbH and its sub-organisation CONSPECT FILM GmbH were banned and dissolved. It is prohibited to form organisations to replace COMPACT-Magazin GmbH and to continue existing organisations as replacements for the banned organisation.
Operating the websites of COMPACT-Magazin GmbH is also prohibited, as are all of its user accounts in all social media. All of its social media user accounts are to be closed.
As long as this ban is in effect, it is also prohibited to use symbols of COMPACT-Magazin GmbH in public, in an assembly or in print, audio or visual media, pictures or portrayals that may or are meant to be disseminated. The symbols subject to the ban were published in the Federal Gazette today at 6:00.
