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German “Citizens Council” Calls for Criminalisation of Disinformation

by Robert Kogon
19 September 2024 5:00 PM

A German “Citizens Council” has submitted recommendations to the German Ministry of the Interior calling, among other things, for the potential criminalisation of “disinformation”. The council was assembled by the Bertelsmann Foundation, Germany’s most influential public policy think-tank, in partnership with the Ministry of the Interior itself, and it was tasked with formulating recommendations on how best to combat “disinformation”.

The project as a whole, known as “Forum Against Fakes”, included both a “council” of 120 German citizens, ostensibly selected to represent the diversity of German society, and an online survey. The “Citizens Report”, which was handed over to Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser on September 12th (see photo above), includes a recommendation titled “Consideration of criminal prosecution and/or penalising of the dissemination of disinformation”. The text (p.37) reads:

The German Government should consider whether criminal prosecution or other types of penalties are possible based on the definition of disinformation.

The “justification” of the proposed measure continues:

Preserving freedom of speech is important to us. Nevertheless, the creation and dissemination of disinformation has to be deterred and the perpetrators’ sense of wrongdoing heightened.

The “Citizens Council” also recommends supplementing the EU’s Digital Services Act, the centrepiece of the EU’s efforts to suppress ‘disinformation’, with a new law, which would require “Very Large Online Platforms” (VLOPs) to reserve 1% of their global turnover for the purpose of “combating disinformation”. Among others, Facebook, X, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Amazon and Wikipedia have been designated as VLOPs by the European Commission.

The relevant text (p.32) says:

They [the online platforms] must use 50% of this budget to ensure that, once a month, every user is shown a post explaining disinformation, which works like a timed ad. (The post must be viewed for a certain amount of time and only then can be closed.)

The remaining 50% of the budget is to be contributed to an “independent agency for financing campaigns against disinformation”, which is discussed elsewhere in the document.

Furthermore, the relevant section proposes the formulation of “minimum legal requirements” which “oblige the platforms to programme their algorithms in such a way that possible disinformation is not disseminated and not recommended to users”.

The Bertelsmann Foundation is affiliated with the privately-owned German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. Indeed, under the ownership structure created by the late Reinhard Mohn, the foundation itself became the majority owner of the corporation, with the Mohn family retaining a minority stake. Penguin-Random House, the largest book publisher in the English-speaking world, is a fully-owned subsidiary of Bertelsmann.

(Translations from German by the author.)

Robert Kogon is the pen name of a widely-published journalist covering European affairs. Subscribe to his Substack.

Tags: CensorshipCensorship-Industrial ComplexDisinformationGermanyMisinformation

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31 Comments
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Ron Smith
Ron Smith
8 months ago

More gesture politics :UK’s first female chancellor scraps portraits of men from No 11 (msn.com)

13
0
john1T
john1T
8 months ago
Reply to  Ron Smith

“UK’s first female chancellor scraps portraits of men from No 11” As a childish distraction from what she is really up to. In my opinion most of the culture wars are a distraction.

9
0
RW
RW
8 months ago
Reply to  john1T

Not quite. This is vandalism and an intentional open demonstration of contempt for (British) tradition: Now, I am the chancellor and as I’m cleary more important than anybody who ever was chancellor before me and – for that matter – anything else which ever existed in the UK, everything must be remade to my likings. Who needs portraits of dead white mean like king James II., anyway?

Practically, assuming she isn’t planing to have the pictures destroyed, it’s mostly a waste of public money.

4
0
huxleypiggles
huxleypiggles
8 months ago
Reply to  Ron Smith

As a perfect example of childish imbecility this could not be bettered. This woman would be an embarrassment in a class of eleven year olds.

Talk about showing yourself up.

Last edited 8 months ago by huxleypiggles
9
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MajorMajor
MajorMajor
8 months ago
Reply to  Ron Smith

Do they make her feel like an imposter?

6
0
Heretic
Heretic
8 months ago
Reply to  Ron Smith

That’s like the UK’s first Ethnic African chancellor Kwarteng scrapping portraits of white people from No. 11

The Marxist Harpy has forgotten who gave her the chancellor’s job: a MAN.

Last edited 8 months ago by Heretic
3
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varmint
varmint
8 months ago

Oh what irony. ————The entire German Energy Policy (Energiewende) is totally based on the manufactured Climate Change Crisis. Probably the biggest and most dangerous bit of “disinformation” the world has been subjected to. ———- A pseudo scientific fraud that has destroyed the German Economy and Industrial base, leaves them with the highest electricity prices in the world, their country looking like a giant pin cushion and has virtually wiped out the Red Kite into the bargain—–Oh dear isn’t this “disinformation” a really bad thing? But apparently the perpetrators of this fraud are still pleading that “Climate Change is real and happening NOW”

18
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Jeff Chambers
Jeff Chambers
8 months ago

These wonderful people know what The Truth is even before it’s revealed. This is because they are in possession of the magical super-power of Wise And Numinous Knowledge (or W.A.N.K. for short). So of course these W.A.N.K.ers should be allowed to censor us – since that is what these campaigns against “disinformation” are really aiming at.

19
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Q
Q
8 months ago
Reply to  Jeff Chambers

Great word; numinous.

4
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varmint
varmint
8 months ago
Reply to  Jeff Chambers

A lie spreads half way around the world while truth is still tying its laces —-Mark Twain

5
0
Q
Q
8 months ago

“Ve haf vays of making du talk, and sink, ze vay ve vont du to.”

How do you spell Goebbels?

4
0
Marcus Aurelius knew
Marcus Aurelius knew
8 months ago
Reply to  Q

Gerbils

6
0
varmint
varmint
8 months ago
Reply to  Q

You don’t need to go back in history to Goebbels——You have the perfect example alive today and the Political Class like Starmer who “prefers Davos to Westminster” are all falling inline to agree with him —Klaus Schwab

10
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Ron Smith
Ron Smith
8 months ago
Reply to  varmint

Don’t forget King Charles and the sycophantic praise he gets on GB News. The same GBN that told Mark Steny that he could only come back in studio if there is a defibrillator. Remember, Ofcom is a WEF member.

8
0
RW
RW
8 months ago
Reply to  varmint

Goebbels was responsible for government propaganda and not persecution of political enemies. And this (the citizen council and the politicians they’re addressing) are still all extremely dedicated antifascists busy with implementing policies the so-called US left is implementing or would like to see implemented but sometimes can’t or at least not as much as they’d like to because of this bothersome US constitution.

Germans are already significantly less free then US citizens on paper as nearly all basic rights of the German basic law are – in one way or another – subject to unspecified legal limitations¹ and even the ones which aren’t (the example I know out of my head would be freedom of religious worship) can be ‘temporarily’ abolished at a whim whenever the government du jour choses to do so (as exemplifed during the so-called pandemic).

¹ As an example, the 1st amenment to the US constitution states

Congress shall make no law […] abridging the freedom of speech.

The corresponding part of the German basic law says

Everybody has, within the limits imposed by general laws, the right to express his opinions freely.

5
0
Q
Q
8 months ago
Reply to  RW

Re Goebbels, in reality it is the same difference, but acknowledging your point: How do you spell Himmler?

1
0
Spiritof_GFawkes
Spiritof_GFawkes
8 months ago
Reply to  Q

HimLHer, sounds as though trans ideology started earlier than I thought…

2
0
RW
RW
8 months ago

Definition of disinformation (translated from the recommendation text):

Disinformation means “wrong information distributed with the intent to manipulate people.” It’s meant to influence public debate, divide society into factions and weaken social cohesion and democracy.

A pandemic of the unvaccinated by another name, so to say.

Leaving the sarcasm aside, the definition above can obviously be applied to any opinion someone really disagrees with, especially insofar this opinion is about public affairs, from immigration policy to climate catastrophes or the lack there of and to what precisely constitues an essential and safe and effective vaccine.

The translation of the action recommendation in the article is also incorrect. What the text really says is

The federal government is asked to evaluate if this definition of desinformation can be utilized to justify public prosecutions or other sanctions.

We have freedom of opinion here, we certainly do! You may freely chose from following opinons:

  1. …
  2. …
  3. …

Anything beyond that may see you go to jail or be fined or socially penalized in some other way.

Last edited 8 months ago by RW
9
0
Lockdown Sceptic
Lockdown Sceptic
8 months ago

Germany – Stasi and Gestapo Return

(Citizens Council – another WEF 2030 I think)

6
0
Steve-Devon
Steve-Devon
8 months ago

It may only be a fringe matter but nonetheless it is interesting that a You-Tube video that Geoff Buys Cars put out regarding Jeremy Clarkson’s views on Electric Cars (EVs) has been ‘demonetised’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyA2aZ-q6Rs&t=21s

Anyone who has followed the discussions on this site will at least know that EVs are not the overwhelmingly glittering future panacea that some people seem to think they are. But yet you if you dare to put out such views You-Tube will cut your income. And frighteningly I think these sort of Citizens Councils would be quite supportive of You Tube taking this sort of action. What makes people so arrogant that they think they know what is disinformation?

12
0
Tyrbiter
Tyrbiter
8 months ago
Reply to  Steve-Devon

Stupidity and ego.

3
0
JXB
JXB
8 months ago

Start point… who decides? And how? We have written laws for a reasons, to prevent arbitrary, biased judgements.

Some people are just easily manipulated idiots.

Last edited 8 months ago by JXB
9
0
Heretic
Heretic
8 months ago

A “Citizens Council” comprised of secret employees of a huge company (Bertelsmann) ???

That’s like Pfizer setting up a “Citizens Council” of its own employees, calling for the Criminalization of Vaccine Refusal.

3
0
RW
RW
8 months ago
Reply to  Heretic

This has been set up by the Bertelsmann Stiftung (Foundation) which is a charity founded by a/ some former owner of the Bertelsmann company. I suspect this is some sort of tax evasion vehicle for rich people as such foundations are quite common in Germany but I don’t really know anything about the details (if any).

Last edited 8 months ago by RW
2
0
Heretic
Heretic
8 months ago
Reply to  RW

Yes, I know that. A “charity”??? It all links back to the huge company Bertelsmann.

These are not ordinary, independent “Citizens”. They are paid tools of the Globalists, and their recommendations count for nothing.

Last edited 8 months ago by Heretic
5
0
RW
RW
8 months ago
Reply to  Heretic

It’s really the other way round: The Bertelsmann Foundation is majority shareholder of the Bertelsmann company but without voting rights while the company itself, whose shares aren’t publically traded, remains controllefd by the Mohn family whose former patriarch Reinhard Mohn (1921 – 2009) founded the Stiftung in 1977. The real arrangment is more complicated than that but the most likely motivation is, as I already wrote, ‘tax optimization’ for members of this family. It’s probably also a vehicle for members of a German billionaire family to channel profits of the Bertelsmann company into political and social projects they consider worthwhile without spending their private money on them.

2
0
Freddy Boy
Freddy Boy
8 months ago

Look in the mirror you utter prat’s !!!.

1
0
RTSC
RTSC
8 months ago

What a lot of authoritarian “Head Girls.” Who knew that authoritarian “Head Girls”represent German society?

2
0
adamcollyer
adamcollyer
8 months ago

Sounds like special pleading to me.

There is a rich irony there that Amazon, the largest bookseller, is one of the VLOPs. Presumably the useful idiots on the “citizens’ council” would like it to start censoring the books it sells.

1
0
The Real Engineer
The Real Engineer
8 months ago

This idea is obviously another attempt at narrative control, by fools. I want to know what happens when someone is punished for disinformation and they are later shown to have been completely truthful? I suppose that the then truth is ignored and the false information becomes truth. This is so “ministry of truth” from 1984 that it is unbelievable. History is continuously changed to match the current belief. The end of civilisation is obviously the plan. Both back to living in caves, and being told any recollection we have is wrong! Obviously all “good” ideas!

0
0
GMO
GMO
8 months ago

Disinformation will be defined as all opinions they disagree with?

0
0

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