The German publication Compact, founded in 2010 and based in the town of Falkensee just outside of Berlin, was recently banned by the German Federal Ministry of the Interior for allegations that the magazine was disseminating "antisemitic, racist, anti-minority, historical revisionist and conspiracy theory content."
As part of the ban, over 300 federal police under Interior Minister Nancy Faeser initiated a nationwide raid on 14 properties linked to the magazine in the German states of Brandenburg, Hesse, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. The home of Compact founder and editor-in-chief Jurgen Elsasser was also raided, with media outlets capturing footage of him being led out of his home in a bathrobe.
Authorities seized all of the magazine's assets, including electronic devices, data carriers, vehicles and even bank accounts, hard cash and gold. The magazine's website, social media channels and subsidiary video production company – Conspect Film GmbH – were also shut down. (Related: Brighteon Media lawsuit against Big Tech and Big Government a fight for FREE SPEECH in America.)
"Today I have banned the right-wing extremist Compact magazine. It is a central mouthpiece of the right-wing extremist scene. This magazine incites hatred against Jews, people with a history of migration and our parliamentary democracy in an unspeakable manner," said Faeser in a statement. "The ban shows that we are also taking action against the intellectual arsonists who foment a climate of hatred and violence against refugees and migrants and want to overcome our democratic state. Our message is very clear: we will not allow ethnicity to define who belongs to Germany and who does not."
Compact has been classified as extremist, nationalist and anti-minority by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution since 2021. The magazine has been a significant platform for conservatives, with a circulation of 40,000 copies and an online video channel, "Compact TV."
Faeser widely receives criticism for shutting down Compact Magazine
The ban has sparked criticism from the conservative Alternative for Germany (AfD), with party leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla describing it as a "serious blow to press freedom."
"The ban on Compact magazine is a serious blow to press freedom. We are observing these events with great concern. Banning a press organ means a denial of discourse and diversity of opinion. A ban is always the most far-reaching step. Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser is thus abusing her powers to suppress critical reporting. We call on the Minister to respect the freedom of the press," Weidel and Chrupalla said in a joint statement.
Tichys Einblicke, a liberal-conservative column magazine for politics, business private finance and society, described the ban of Compact as "historically unprecedented." Meanwhile, constitutional lawyer and former Federal Minister of Defense Rupert Scholz stated that the ban is unconstitutional.
"Freedom of expression enjoys such a high constitutional status that it cannot simply be undermined by an executive decision," Scholz said. "At most, a medium can be banned if it represents a revolutionary position, i.e., calls for overthrowing the existing order by force. But that would then have to lead to criminal proceedings."
Scholz stated that the "ethnic concept of people" used by Compact – distinguishing between ancestral and naturalized German citizens – is also "not unconstitutional."
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