Covid-19 crisis
“Walk” or extremism: where are the corona protests drifting?
A supporter of the “lateral thinking” movement at a demonstration against the German government’s corona policy in November 2020 in Berlin
© Annette Riedl / DPA
The protests against measures and vaccinations to contain the corona pandemic are increasingly aggressive. Because not only concerned citizens demonstrate here.
First a torch-lit march in front of the house of the Saxon Minister of Health Petra Köpping, then death threats against the state’s prime minister, Michael Kretschmer: Politicians, police and constitutional officials are increasingly alarmed by radical protests against the corona policy. And also a bit at a loss. What’s behind it? And what is to be done? The most important answers:
Aren’t these just legitimate expressions of opinion?
Many “normal citizens”, including children, took part in corona demonstrations and “walks” over the past few days. In some cases, the protests were registered and conditions met, such as in Saalfeld in Thuringia on Wednesday. In some cases, however, prohibitions and rules are deliberately disregarded. In Saxony, for example, only ten people are currently allowed to gather in public and then not move from the spot. Nevertheless, hundreds of people marched through the streets in many places, even without masks and spaces. After the threateningly staged march in front of her house last week, the SPD politician Köpping emphasized that these were not protests, but attempts to intimidate right-wing extremists and believers in conspiracies.
Who is organizing the protests in the eastern German states?
Authorities and experts assume that right-wing extremist groups are involved, who have been mobilizing against migration and against state structures for years. Saxony’s constitution protection president Dirk-Martin Christian declared at the end of November: “Even under the influence of right-wing extremists, so-called Reich citizens and anti-Semites, the anti-corona protests have become more and more aggressive in the course of the pandemic.” He referred to violence against police officers, journalists and verbal attacks against Kretschmer. The constitutional protector named the right-wing extremist group Free Saxony, founded in February 2021, as a “mobilization machine”. It stands for an increasing propensity for violence in the protests in Saxony. However, their influence extends beyond national borders, as the Thuringian Office for the Protection of the Constitution has established.
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Is the Corona protest an East German phenomenon?
No. There are also loud rallies in the west, most recently in Würzburg and Schweinfurt. Last Friday, four opponents of the vaccination moved in front of the private apartment in Cologne of the SPD health politician Karl Lauterbach. The police ended the unannounced gathering. Lauterbach is now Minister of Health. In a report by the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of the Interior, there was recently talk of increasing “emotionalization and radicalization” as a result of the latest corona resolutions by the federal and state governments. Above all, these mean restrictions for non-immunized people.
Are the protests different in the west?
Partly. The proportion of right-wing extremists is lower in the West. Especially at the beginning of the pandemic, the protests of the so-called lateral thinkers in Baden-Württemberg were the focus. Corona deniers and vaccination skeptics often come from esoteric and pietistic milieus. “It is a movement that sometimes comes from the left, but moves to the right,” says the current study “Quellen des Querdenkertums”. Some prominent spreaders of conspiracy stories about the coronavirus have gone abroad, others have withdrawn from the public. One possible reason: The Office for the Protection of the Constitution has been looking more closely at this milieu for a few months now when state institutions are “delegitimized and made contemptible in a manner that poses a threat to security.”
How do the Corona critics network?
The channel of choice is often Telegram. The messenger service has a reputation for allowing any content without moderation. In addition to individual communication, public channels are also possible. According to a study by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, Telegram has a particularly large number of right-wing extremist and right-wing populist channels. At the same time, there is a lack of reporting channels and there are no tangible responsible persons in Germany to take action against illegal content. The Amadeu Antonio Foundation points out that the Free Saxons have a Telegram channel with more than 100,000 users to mobilize for corona protests. The chats with death threats against Prime Minister Kretschmer discovered by ZDF reporters also ran via Telegram, according to the broadcaster.
How can Telegram be contained?
The regulation of the provider has been difficult so far. The Federal Office of Justice takes the view that Telegram is not just a messenger service, but a social network. This means that Telegram has to adhere to the requirements of the Network Enforcement Act, such as Facebook and Twitter. This includes the establishment of an easily accessible reporting channel for criminal content and the appointment of an authorized recipient for requests from German courts. Therefore, two fine proceedings are pending against the company based in the United Arab Emirates. “The specifications of the Network Enforcement Act are binding – and the law does not recognize any blanket exception for messenger services,” said the new Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) to the editorial network in Germany.
What role does the AfD play in the corona protests?
The AfD is held jointly responsible for the heated mood by other parties. The right-wing populists are strictly against compulsory vaccinations. Your youth organization Junge Alternative wants to demonstrate at the weekend under the motto “vaccination strike” in Berlin. However, the AfD federal executive is afraid of central rallies against the corona policy. There is too much concern that confused people or right-wing extremists will line up or that violence could result. That would come at an inopportune time before the Cologne Administrative Court ruled whether the Office for the Protection of the Constitution should observe the entire party as a suspected right-wing extremist case. According to party circles, the AfD is now planning a campaign against the division of society – vaccinated against unvaccinated.