A survey done by Germany’s pro-censorship federal government has found that around half of people in the country feel that accusations of racism and “political correctness” can stifle free speech.
Known internationally for its propensity to censor those on the right, Germany has launched the results of a state-sponsored survey which informs officials on the state of racism in Germany.
However, while those involved in the so-called ‘Racism Monitor’ appear to be aiming to paint a picture of nation which wants to fight the racism it sees as endemic in society, the survey in actuality appears to show that many citizens are not exactly in lock-step with the views of their progressive rulers.
One Member of the European Parliament (MEP) has raised doubts with Breitbart News regarding what the German government defines as racism in the first place, saying that the belief that limits should be put on immigration is often construed as racist by Federal authorities.
According to the document titled ‘Racist Realities’ published on the Racism Monitor official website, nearly half of Germans polled felt that accusations of racism, as well as so-called “political correctness”, actually restrict freedom of speech in the country.
“Criticism of racism sometimes creates strong aversions,” read the study which was published on Thursday.
“Almost half of the population (45 per cent) think that accusations of racism and ‘political correctness’ restrict freedom of expression,” the report continued, while noting that even more felt that critiquing the historical use of language deemed racist was not justified.
What’s more, while the study appears to aim at monitoring “racism” in German society, how authorities in the country define racism itself is something that Dr Gunnar Beck, MEP for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, believes we should be sceptical of.
“One thing to bear in mind is that the German government defines racism inter alia as the belief that Germany should limit unqualified or non-European immigration even if such limits are in accordance with the Geneva Refugees Convention,” Dr Beck said.
“As 75 per cent of Germans wish to limit non-EU immigration this automatically makes them racist,” he suggested. “If the same definition of racism were applied [across] the EU, most Western European populations would be 90 per cent racist and it would be 98 per cent in Eastern Europe,” he claimed.
In finding that the population of Germany is concerned about the effect PC culture is having on freedom of speech, the study stands in sharp contrast with the actions of the German government, which has repeatedly attempted to stamp out views it deems problematic.
For example, the German state has in recent months attempted to clamp down on the symbolic use of the letter ‘Z’, which it claims could indicate a person’s approval of the Russian government.
“Russian war of aggression against the #Ukraine is a criminal offence,” one government mouthpiece wrote online. “Anyone who publicly approves of this war of aggression may be liable to prosecution.”
Authorities in the country also threatened those who would dare to display the symbol with up to three years in prison for their transgressions.
The German police, meanwhile, conducted mass raids in March of this year against those it deemed to have posted illegal content online during the country’s most recent general election, having restricted citizens from levelling “insults” against elected officials.
“This day of action illustrates the extent to which public officials and elected representatives are insulted, slandered and threatened on the Internet,” one official said regarding the raids, which targetted 100 people across 13 German states.
“In order to prevent the withdrawal of those affected from reaching a level that endangers democracy, we are prosecuting these crimes consistently and in close cooperation with the public prosecutors of the other federal states,” he went on to say.
The German legal system has even given law enforcement the authority to spy on Alternative for Germany, with one court labelling the eurosceptic, anti-mass migration party as a “suspicious entity”.
“The party stands for racism, the party stands for exclusion of minorities, the party stands for contempt of the social system,” asserted the president of the state body which handed down the ruling, praising the decision to allow a political opposition party to be spied upon by the authorities as a “good day for democracy”.
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