The German government agreed on a draft law on June 26th that would make it easier to deport people for praising or promoting "terrorist crimes," the country’s interior ministry announced.
GERMANY: SUPPORT TERROR - YOU’LL GET DEPORTED
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced a new policy that will make support for terrorism grounds for deportation from the country.@N12News pic.twitter.com/xYHbGKXQhY— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) June 6, 2024
The move comes after Berlin introduced sweeping reforms to the country’s citizenship and immigration laws. Prospective applicants can obtain German citizenship faster without having to renounce citizenship of their previous countries, but they would be required to affirm Israel’s right to exist.
The proposal was also passed in reaction to the online hate posts that praised Hamas for its attack on Israel on October 7, which left 1,200 Israelis dead, along with other terrorist incidents.
Under the proposed law, someone considered to have approved of, condoned, or glorified a single terrorist offense will be sufficient to consider a "serious interest in deportation,” and no criminal conviction would be necessary for an individual to be deported.
Good idea. This kind of agitation goes beyond free speech. Because free speech is supposed to be civil.
—Ukraine needs more ammo (@bcwestmind) June 26, 2024
Expression of approval could include posting hateful content on social media and marking a hate post with a “like” or any other positive reaction on social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.
Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced plans to change the law, allowing individuals to be deported to countries such as Afghanistan and Syria after a deadly knife attack on an anti-Islam rally in Mannheim, where an Afghan man stabbed and killed a German police officer.
Scholz said promoting and praising terrorism was a "slap in the face for the victims, their families, and our democratic order.”
The German regime must then deport itself for supporting decades of Israeli state terrorism, well before the ongoing genocide, which the regime also supports, and which, as the worst crime vs humanity, must also be punishable, at minimum, by deportation of the regime
— Peter Yang-Yeovil (@PeterYangYeovil) June 27, 2024
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser put forward the changes, arguing that the German government is "taking tough action against Islamist and anti-Semitic hate crime online."
"It is very clear to us that Islamist agitators who are mentally living in the Stone Age have no place in our country," Faeser said. "Anyone who does not have a German passport and glorifies terrorist acts here must — wherever possible — be expelled."
The draft law, which still needs to be passed by the German parliament, says glorifying acts of terror online fuels a climate of violence, which can encourage extremists and violent criminals.
Important update: German Interior Minister clarifies that a like on social media will not be enough for deportation - a comment supporting terrorism will be required pic.twitter.com/YUuphG5tpT
— James Jackson (@derJamesJackson) June 28, 2024
However, critics of the draft law argue that the proposal excessively clamps down on freedom of speech and is similar to tactics used by authoritarian regimes. Clara Bünger of the socialist Left Party said the draft law culminated in a worrying trend.
She said the persecution of individuals for a simple "like" on social media in countries with authoritarian leaders, such as Turkey and Russia, had understandably been met with condemnation from German politicians.
"However, Germany itself has long been moving in this direction," Bünger added.
The draft law is controversial as Germany does not repatriate people to countries where they can be threatened with death. The measure also comes amid a rise in support for the far-right, anti-migrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) and growing concern and debate about migration and national security.
