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. […]
— Read More: brownstone.org
