German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday spoke for the first time about the interior ministry’s decision to ban the right-wing magazine Compact. At a press conference, Scholz defended the ban, saying “freedom of the press includes being able to say a lot of nonsense, but there are limits that you can’t overlook.”
Seemingly contradicting himself many times on the matter, he said he is a “champion of press freedom,” which is of “the utmost importance for democracy in Germany,” but then went on to say there are “of course opinions that are forbidden in Germany,” including, for example, the glorification of national socialism or anti-semitism.
Compact magazine, an anti-establishment, government-critical publication, was banned on Tuesday, July 16th, for “inciting hatred” and “aggressively propagating the toppling of the political order.” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser called it “a central mouthpiece of the right-wing extremist scene.”
However, the move seems more like the action of a government that wants to silence voices it disagrees with. Experts on constitutional law say the ban amounts to nothing less than an attack on the freedom of the press. Editor-in-chief Jürgen Elsässer emphasised that no court cases brought against Compact could substantiate the accusations of racism, antisemitism, or incitement to violence—claims he rejects.
Olaf Scholz says authorities prepared the ban very carefully, examined all possible legal questions, and the decision was made “for good reason.” When asked whether editorial offices in Germany could now be closed, the chancellor said there are “crimes that must not be committed.”
However, Compact magazine is not accused of having committed crimes. It wasn’t banned under the Criminal Code, which regulates the press, but under association, law which is not protected by the freedom of the press.
The magazine filed a lawsuit against the ban on Wednesday.The German Compact magazine should not be confused with the U.S. publication of the same name.