Mediavastio
Technology

Militant democracy or creeping illiberalism? Germany’s free speech dilemma.

April 10, 2026 • 5 min read • views
Militant democracy or creeping illiberalism? Germany’s free speech dilemma.
Big Think Home Open search Open main menu
  • Search What are you curious about? Popular SearchesCritical thinkingPhilosophyEmotional IntelligenceFree Will Latest Videos Latest Articles
  • Topics

    Philosophy

    • Ethics
    • Religion
    • Flourishing
    • Knowledge
    • Philosophy of Science
    • Philosophy of Art
    • Language
    • Political Theory
    • Identity
    • Meaning & Purpose

    Science & Tech

    • Physics
    • Biology
    • Aerospace
    • Health
    • Geology
    • Computing
    • Engineering
    • Energy
    • Biotechnology
    • Astronomy

    Mind & Behavior

    • Psychology
    • Neuroscience
    • Decision-Making
    • Mental Health
    • Consciousness
    • Emotional Intelligence
    • Personality
    • Relationships
    • Parenting

    Business

    • Entrepreneurship
    • Leadership
    • Finance
    • Marketing
    • Innovation
    • Strategy
    • Management
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Startups
    • Economics

    History & Society

    • History
    • Literature
    • Art
    • Music
    • Film
    • Progress
    • Culture
    • Sociology
    • Policy
    • Geopolitics
  • Latest
  • Videos Latest Videos A man sits on a chair in front of a white backdrop in a modern room with brick walls, large windows, bookshelves, and minimal decor. Over-optimizing your life is making you fragile, not better with Brad Stulberg A blue-walled hallway with white trim features several doorways in a row, with large fluffy clouds filling the rooms beyond. The physiology of dreams, explained by 2 scientists with Patrick McNamara Digital illustration of a human head in profile showing a translucent brain with layered neural pathways, set against a blue gradient background. Reboot your mind for flow, unanxiousness, and resilience with Steven Kotler An older man with a beard sits on a chair in front of a white backdrop, with yellow neuron-like patterns on a black background surrounding the scene. The science behind the strangest biological phenomena with David J. Linden A woman in a black suit sits on a stool in a white room, gesturing with one hand. The background features abstract teal and pink patterns. This isn’t a trip, it’s the most challenging therapy session of your life with Rachel Yehuda A middle-aged man in a navy suit and light blue shirt gestures with his right hand while sitting against a plain light background. The hidden reason smart people stop growing with Robert Herjavec See All
  • Columns Text "MINI PHILOSOPHY" on a black torn paper background, surrounded by sketches, handwritten notes, and artwork fragments. Mini Philosophy A philosophy column for personal reflection. Text "STARTS WITH A BANG" in bold white letters over a background of stars and colorful nebulae in outer space. Starts With A Bang An astrophysics column on big questions and our universe. A woman lies down reading a book, with the word "BOOKS" in large white letters and a stylized open book icon replacing the letter "O. Books A literature column to feed your curiosity. Four blurred orange butterflies in motion surround the phrase "the LONG GAME" in white text on a black background. The Long Game A business column on long-term thinking. White text "Strange Maps" on a dark green background featuring faint outlines of a vintage map. Strange Maps A geography column on history and society. The Well A collection of essays and videos on life’s biggest questions. Two astronauts stand on a rocky, pinkish-purple surface in space with the number 13.8 in large white font across the center of the image. 13.8 A column at the intersection of science and culture.
  • Classes Featured Classes A stylized portrait of a man with glasses, viewed through overlapping green and yellow filters giving a graphic, duotone effect. Members 6 videos How to Become Antifragile Tal Ben-Shahar Positive psychologist An older man with gray hair, glasses, and a beard gestures towards himself, standing in front of a background featuring a black and white anatomical diagram. Members 7 videos Understanding Trauma Bessel van der Kolk Psychiatrist and neuroscientist Abstract geometric design featuring concentric circles, quartered background, and scattered solid and outlined dots in blue, green, and white hues. Members 9 videos The 6 Disciplines of Strategic Thinking Michael Watkins Professor of Leadership and Organizational Change, IMD Business School, and Author, “The Six Disciplines of Strategic Thinking” A woman with long hair and glasses wearing a blazer, posed with her hand under her chin, looks at the camera. The photo is overlaid with a semi-transparent colored square. Members 12 videos Radical Respect at Work Kim Scott Co-Founder, Radical Candor, and Author, Radical Respect: How to Work Together Better A stylized graphic with three large eye shapes stacked vertically; the middle orange eye reveals part of a person's face, while the others are solid black and white. Members 8 videos How to Think Like a Spy Andrew Bustamante Former CIA Operative and Founder, Everyday Spy A man with short hair in a collared shirt gestures with his hands, pointing toward himself, against a blue background with translucent color overlays. Members 7 videos Managing the Voice in Your Head Ethan Kross Professor of Psychology and Management & Organizations; Author, University of Michigan Browse
  • More
    • Newsletters
    • Monthly Issues
    • Events
    • Big Think+ Learning
    • Creative Studio
    • Advertise with Us
    • About
    • Careers
    • View our Twitter (X) feed View our Youtube channel View our Instagram feed View our Substack feed View our Spotify feed
Sign In Membership
  • My account
    • My Classes
    • My Account
    • My List
    • Early Releases
    • Sign Out
  • Membership
  • Latest
  • Topics Back
  • Videos Back Latest Videos A man sits on a chair in front of a white backdrop in a modern room with brick walls, large windows, bookshelves, and minimal decor. Over-optimizing your life is making you fragile, not better Brad Stulberg breaks down the biology, philosophy, and psychology behind genuine excellence and how to reach it. A blue-walled hallway with white trim features several doorways in a row, with large fluffy clouds filling the rooms beyond. The physiology of dreams, explained by 2 scientists Have you ever woken up after a dream and thought to yourself, “That made absolutely no sense”? According to modern... Digital illustration of a human head in profile showing a translucent brain with layered neural pathways, set against a blue gradient background. Reboot your mind for flow, unanxiousness, and resilience “We can use neuroscience and tools from psychology to learn how to take advantage of anxiety.” From Zen Buddhism to... An older man with a beard sits on a chair in front of a white backdrop, with yellow neuron-like patterns on a black background surrounding the scene. The science behind the strangest biological phenomena Neuroscientist David Linden sheds light on the biology behind phenomena that medicine has long struggled to explain, from voodoo death... A woman in a black suit sits on a stool in a white room, gesturing with one hand. The background features abstract teal and pink patterns. This isn’t a trip, it’s the most challenging therapy session of your life Rachel Yehuda, a leading PTSD researcher, has spent her career uncovering the way that trauma can leave impressions on our... A middle-aged man in a navy suit and light blue shirt gestures with his right hand while sitting against a plain light background. The hidden reason smart people stop growing Shark Tank’s Robert Herjavec breaks down why the traditional idea of mentorship is not only outdated, but actively getting in... A bald man wearing glasses and a peach-colored button-up shirt sits facing the camera against a plain white background, holding his right hand slightly raised. The neuroscience behind synesthesia Neurologist Richard Cytowic has spent decades studying synesthesia, the phenomenon where one sense involuntarily triggers another.  Older man with gray hair wearing a dark suit, patterned tie, and blue shirt, gesturing with both hands, seated against a plain white background. The real lesson from the first time globalization died Archaeologist Eric Cline has spent his career forensically reconstructing why the Bronze Age collapsed, and the answer is far stranger...
  • Columns Back Columns Text "MINI PHILOSOPHY" on a black torn paper background, surrounded by sketches, handwritten notes, and artwork fragments. Mini Philosophy A philosophy column for personal reflection. Text "STARTS WITH A BANG" in bold white letters over a background of stars and colorful nebulae in outer space. Starts With A Bang An astrophysics column on big questions and our universe. A woman lies down reading a book, with the word "BOOKS" in large white letters and a stylized open book icon replacing the letter "O. Books A literature column to feed your curiosity. Four blurred orange butterflies in motion surround the phrase "the LONG GAME" in white text on a black background. The Long Game A business column on long-term thinking. White text "Strange Maps" on a dark green background featuring faint outlines of a vintage map. Strange Maps A geography column on history and society. The Well A collection of essays and videos on life’s biggest questions. Two astronauts stand on a rocky, pinkish-purple surface in space with the number 13.8 in large white font across the center of the image. 13.8 A column at the intersection of science and culture.
  • Classes Back Featured Classes A stylized portrait of a man with glasses, viewed through overlapping green and yellow filters giving a graphic, duotone effect. Members 6 videos How to Become Antifragile Tal Ben-Shahar Positive psychologist An older man with gray hair, glasses, and a beard gestures towards himself, standing in front of a background featuring a black and white anatomical diagram. Members 7 videos Understanding Trauma Bessel van der Kolk Psychiatrist and neuroscientist Abstract geometric design featuring concentric circles, quartered background, and scattered solid and outlined dots in blue, green, and white hues. Members 9 videos The 6 Disciplines of Strategic Thinking Michael Watkins Professor of Leadership and Organizational Change, IMD Business School, and Author, “The Six Disciplines of Strategic Thinking” A woman with long hair and glasses wearing a blazer, posed with her hand under her chin, looks at the camera. The photo is overlaid with a semi-transparent colored square. Members 12 videos Radical Respect at Work Kim Scott Co-Founder, Radical Candor, and Author, Radical Respect: How to Work Together Better A stylized graphic with three large eye shapes stacked vertically; the middle orange eye reveals part of a person's face, while the others are solid black and white. Members 8 videos How to Think Like a Spy Andrew Bustamante Former CIA Operative and Founder, Everyday Spy A man with short hair in a collared shirt gestures with his hands, pointing toward himself, against a blue background with translucent color overlays. Members 7 videos Managing the Voice in Your Head Ethan Kross Professor of Psychology and Management & Organizations; Author, University of Michigan
  • My Account Back
  • Sign In
  • Membership
  • More Back
View our Twitter (X) feed View our Youtube channel View our Instagram feed View our Substack feed View our Spotify feed Search What are you curious about? Popular SearchesCritical thinkingPhilosophyEmotional IntelligenceFree Will Latest Videos Latest Articles Militant democracy or creeping illiberalism? Germany’s free speech dilemma.

Germany built aggressive systems to combat hate speech, but the line between defending democracy and undermining it may be beginning to blur.

by Jacob Mchangama & Jeff Kosseff April 10, 2026 The cover of the book "The Future of Free Speech" by Jacob Mchangama and Jeff Kosseff, with part of the cover image pixelated, explores topics like Germany free speech in a rapidly changing world. Key Takeaways
  • Germany’s laws restricting hate speech are currently far stricter than those found in other Western-style democracies like the United States.
  • Mchangama and Kosseff argue that expanding censorship powers can unintentionally amplify extremists by turning them into martyrs.
  • Despite stricter enforcement, extremism continues to rise, leading the authors to raise doubts about whether limiting speech can protect democracy.
The word "BOOKS" with the second "O" stylized as an open book illustration.

A literature column to feed your curiosity.

Get our free newsletter on Substack
    History and SocietyPolitical PhilosophyPolitical SociologyFree SpeechMedia Politics
Excerpted from The Future of Free Speech: Reversing the Global Decline of Democracy's Most Essential Freedom by Jacob Mchangama and Jeff Kosseff. Copyright 2026. Published with permission of Johns Hopkins University Press.

Due to its Nazi past, Germany’s post–World War II militant democracy has been unusually aggressive in banning hatred and extremism. Early postwar laws prohibited Nazi symbols, propaganda, and organizations. A turning point came in 1960 with the “swastika epidemic” — a surge of anti-Semitic graffiti and attacks on synagogues. In response, the German parliament made it illegal to incite hatred or insult “segments of the population” in ways that might disturb public peace. The epidemic was later revealed to be a KGB “active measures” campaign. Despite this, Germany has continually expanded its hate-speech laws to cover areas such as incitement, Holocaust denial, and the distribution of propaganda and symbols of unconstitutional organizations. Even criminal defamation laws can function as hate-speech provisions under this broad framework.

While Germany’s speech laws were intended to protect minorities and democracy, they now frequently shield governments from criticism. Alarmingly, they are sometimes used against those minorities they were designed to protect — such as the frequent prosecutions of Muslims and Palestinians during pro-Palestinian protests. This effectively leaves a predominantly white, German political administrative class to determine which minorities deserve protection — or prosecution — under laws meant to defend them from majoritarian intolerance.

Despite its patchwork of hate-speech laws, to the country’s politicians, Germany’s militant democracy seems increasingly outdated in the age of social media. While traditional media once kept most extremism out of sight, platforms now amplify bigotry. To adapt, Germany passed the Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG), but the act has struggled to meet the complexities of the digital era. Outsourcing online censorship to tech giants did not curb far-right extremism. In 2020, then–Interior Minister Horst Seehofer warned that “right-wing extremism, antisemitism, and racism remain the greatest threats to security,” and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany’s domestic intelligence service, reported a sharp increase in right-wing extremist sympathizers — including those willing to use violence — between 2018, when NetzDG took full effect, and 2019. Politically motivated offenses and anti-Semitic incidents — mostly linked to the far right — also increased.

Some of these offenses were deadly and traumatic in a country still grappling with a past in which fascist militias defied the rule of law before establishing a totalitarian regime. On October 9, 2019, during Yom Kippur, a German neo-Nazi attempted to storm a synagogue in Halle. He failed to breach the door but killed two bystanders, livestreamed the attack, and posted a manifesto promising to “kill as many non-Whites as possible, Jews preferred.” This came months after another neo-Nazi assassinated a pro-immigrant politician. In February 2020, nine immigrants were murdered in an attack in Hanau. Predictably, the German government responded by further expanding its arsenal of hate-speech laws. In 2021, “hate-mongering insults” against vulnerable groups and expressions of approval for future crimes were criminalized.

The German government’s efforts extended beyond adjusting the law. If online radicalization was the threat, new crimes and platform accountability weren’t enough. The individuals posting illegal content had to be found and punished. As the head of Germany’s Federal Criminal Office admonished, “Anyone who posts hate messages must expect the police to be at the front door.” In 2022, The New York Times reviewed German state records and found more than 8,500 open investigations into online speech-related offenses. At least 1,000 people had been charged or punished since 2018. In many cases, when suspects refused to unlock their devices, digital forensics experts bypassed passwords to extract potentially incriminating content.

Although these statistics predate October 7, 2023, the raids have continued. In March 2024, police forcibly entered a Berlin apartment and arrested a 41-year-old woman who had posted “from the river to the sea.” Officers confiscated her phones and computers. Many of those convicted for online hate speech may well have been neo-Nazis or Islamist radicals. But the crackdown also swept up government critics such as CJ Hopkins, a left-wing American playwright who moved to Berlin in 2004 after opposing the Iraq War and what he called an “oppressive” atmosphere in the United States.

As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded and lockdowns and vaccine mandates were imposed, Hopkins became a combative critic of the German government’s response. In August 2022, he tweeted the cover of his self-published book, The Rise of the New Normal Reich: Consent Factory Essays, which displayed a faint white swastika on a facemask. In May 2023, Hopkins was charged with disseminating “propaganda intended to further the aims of a former National Socialist organization.” Though he was acquitted in January 2024, the prosecutor appealed the decision. Hopkins was found guilty in September 2024 and faces a fine of up to €3,600 or 60 days in prison.

Even when the full force of militant democracy is unleashed against the far right, such measures may weaken free speech and embolden the censored. In July 2024, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser banned the right-wing Compact Magazine, citing its advocacy for violently overthrowing the state and incitement against minorities. Armed officers in balaclavas raided its offices, while hundreds of police searched additional locations, seizing documents and computers. Compact, with a circulation of 40,000, is known for provocative takes on immigration, multiculturalism, and COVID-19. It was labeled “extremist” by Germany’s domestic intelligence in 2021. In August 2024, a top court enjoined the ban, calling it too extreme, and in July 2025 the ban was overturned on free-speech grounds. This legal victory allowed Compact to portray the case as David versus Goliath, accusing the government of dictatorial overreach — a narrative that boosted the magazine’s visibility.

On September 2, CompactTV resumed broadcasting and live-streamed celebrations as the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) became the largest party in the Thuringia state parliament, with nearly 33% of the vote. The result was orchestrated by the AfD’s controversial Thuringia leader, Björn Höcke, who had twice been convicted of using banned Nazi-era slogans at political rallies. Similar to what happened with Compact Magazine, state crackdowns appeared to boost his populist appeal. Höcke compared himself to Socrates and Jesus and likened German authorities to the members of Inquisition: “The bludgeon of justice is always used to beat the head of the dissident.” Though defeated in court, Höcke emerged three months later as the triumphant face of the AfD’s historic electoral victory — sending shock waves through Germany’s political establishment. German authorities intensified their clash with the AfD in May 2025, when the BfV officially labeled it a “proven right-wing extremist organization.” The designation, which followed the party’s second-place finish in national elections, expanded surveillance powers and opened the door to a possible ban.

The real question now is whether Germany’s relentless crackdown on free speech has grown to be a greater threat to its democracy than the extremists it desperately tries to silence.

While modern far-right parties like the AfD differ significantly from Hitler’s National Socialist German Workers’ Party — which dismantled democracy in 1933 — the parallels between Germany’s militant democracy and the Weimar Republic’s desperate efforts to suppress Nazis and communists are striking. The Republic’s emergency measures, which ultimately censored liberal and social democratic media, inadvertently amplified Nazi demagogues like Josef Goebbels and Julius Streicher, turning them into martyrs and providing a template for suppressing dissent when the Nazis seized power through democratic means.

Germany’s recurring expansions of hate-speech laws during crises blur the line between militant and illiberal democracy. Scenes where peaceful protesters are arrested, newspapers raided, and people prosecuted for dissent evoke comparisons to authoritarian practices in Russia or Venezuela. One queer feminist from Russia, represented by a Berlin lawyer, even likened the police shutdown of the April 2024 Palestine Congress to LGBTQ+ crackdowns in Moscow.

This raises a critical question. How far is Europe’s largest democracy willing to go in restricting free speech to combat extremism? Right-wing extremist activity and violence have surged, despite measures like NetzDG. According to BfV reports, the number of right-wing extremists grew annually from 2018 to 2024, rising from 32,080 (with 13,000 inclined toward violence) in 2019 to 50,250 (with 15,300 classified as violence oriented) by 2024. That year also saw a 47.4% spike in right-wing extremist offenses, with violent crimes up 11.6%, marking the highest overall extremist-offense total in a decade. Compounding this, left-wing extremist offenses rose in 2023 and surged in 2024. Offenses motivated by religious ideology — almost entirely Islamist — skyrocketed from 418 in 2022 to 1,250 in 2023 (violent incidents up 67%), and further increased in 2024.

Despite these troubling trends and the undeniable collateral damage to free expression, there’s little indication that Germany will rethink its illiberal approach. For all of modern Germany’s admirable qualities, its militant democracy may be more of a cautionary tale than a model to emulate. The real question now is whether Germany’s relentless crackdown on free speech has grown to be a greater threat to its democracy than the extremists it desperately tries to silence.

    History and SocietyPolitical PhilosophyPolitical SociologyFree SpeechMedia Politics
Jacob Mchangama

Lawyer, Human-Rights Advocate, and Author

Full Profile Jeff Kosseff

Associate Professor of Cybersecurity Law

Full Profile A man with short curly hair wearing a dark suit, white shirt, and patterned tie, standing against a plain light-colored background. Monthly Issue March 2026 The Roots of Resilience In this monthly issue, we look at resilience not as a buzzword or a self-help prescription, but as a property — one that shows up, or doesn’t, at every scale. 2 videos 14 articles Illustration of five humanoid figures with green bodies, root-like veins, and tree branches growing from their heads, holding hands against a yellow and red background.

Related Content

Starts With A Bang

Ask Ethan: How did Artemis II break Apollo’s distance record?

Human beings have now traveled farther from Earth than ever before with Artemis II's flyby of the lunar far side. Here's how it happened.

by Ethan Siegel Four people wearing black shirts and eclipse glasses look up at the camera indoors, their excitement echoing the spirit of the Artemis II distance record mission. Books

The important role of ignorance in building a better society

George Szpiro explores the philosophical ideas that explain why justice — not freedom or efficiency — may better anchor a fair society.

by George G. Szpiro Book cover of "Ignorance" by George G. Szpiro, featuring redacted phrases that reflect the theme of ignorance, with the text “an excerpt from” on a green background beside it. Strange Maps

How the modern world turned gray (and why color may be coming back)

The ideology, economics, and psychology behind the modern world's draining of color from homes, cars, and everyday objects.

by Frank Jacobs A map of the United States showing the most popular paint color in each state, with names of various gray, blue, and neutral shades labeled over the corresponding states. Books

40 years ago, “Frames of Mind” cracked open the idea of intelligence. It’s not done.

Howard Gardner joins us to reflect on the theory of multiple intelligences and why the question of who owns intelligence is more important than ever.

by Ross Pomeroy The word "intelligence" in gray lowercase letters on a black background, with a subtle spotlight effect highlighting the center of the text, inspired by Frames of Mind. Learn from the world's biggest thinkers.
  • Videos
    • Latest
    • The Big Think Interview
  • Columns
    • Mini Philosophy
    • Starts with a Bang
    • Big Think Books
    • The Long Game
    • Strange Maps
    • 13.8
    • The Well
    • Rethinking Possible
  • Sections
    • Philosophy
    • Mind & Behavior
    • Science & Tech
    • Business
    • History & Society
  • Classes
    • Class Library
  • Subscribe
    • Membership
    • Free Newsletters
  • Partner
    • Big Think+ Learning
    • Creative Studio
    • Advertise with Us
    • Events
  • More
    • About
    • Careers
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Sale
    • Accessibility
View our Twitter (X) feed View our Youtube channel View our Instagram feed View our Substack feed View our Spotify feed © Copyright 2007-2026 & BIG THINK, BIG THINK PLUS, SMARTER FASTER trademarks owned by Freethink Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

Related Articles