German government bans far‑right "Compact" magazine and outlets
16 July 2024 12:39
On Tuesday, the German Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, banned the publication of the magazine "Compact", which counterintelligence deemed far-right. She also outlawed the publishing company Compact-Magazin GmbH and its subsidiary Conspect Film GmbH.
As reported by the ministry in a statement cited by DPA, searches were conducted at locations associated with Conspect Film GmbH and the homes of its management and shareholders in Brandenburg, Hesse, Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt from early Tuesday morning.
The raid aimed to confiscate assets and evidence. Among the searched properties was a house in Falkensee, Brandenburg, whose address appears in the magazine's footer.
The magazine incites hatred
Justifying the publication ban of "Compact," Faeser stated that the magazine is "the main mouthpiece of the far-right extremist scene" and also "incites hatred against Jews, people of migrant origin, and German parliamentary democracy."
As early as 2022, German counterintelligence, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), determined that the magazine led by Juergen Elsaesser "as a multimedia company introduces anti-democratic and human dignity-violating positions into society," and the leading representatives of the newspaper maintain contacts with key figures of the so-called New Right.
In the newspaper's online store, one can purchase, among other things, a coin featuring the likeness of the chairman of the far-right party AfD in Thuringia, Bjoern Hoecke. Dpa reported that at organised events, Elsaesser voices pro-Russian slogans.
As the "Der Spiegel" weekly portal reminded me, apart from the magazine, whose monthly circulation recently reached 40,000 copies, "Compact" runs a YouTube channel with nearly 350,000 subscribers. According to "Spiegel" information, it too was banned, as was the subsidiary Conspect Film GmbH, run by Elsaesser's wife Stephanie.
"Der Spiegel" wrote that "Compact" can no longer run channels on Facebook, X, Telegram, and other social media platforms, and newsstands can no longer sell this far-right magazine.
