At 6 a.m. Wednesday, German police launched raids on 170 individuals for alleged online “hate” and political insults. The move follows an alarming trend of government crackdowns on speech across the country.
Key Facts:
- Federal Criminal Police (BKA) conducted raids across Germany targeting 170 people accused of online hate speech or political insults.
- The raids were based on Paragraph 188 of Germany’s Criminal Code, which criminalizes certain types of political criticism and hate speech.
- Devices like phones and computers were seized in multiple homes during the raids.
- Similar “days of action” are increasingly frequent, with over 10,700 such cases recorded last year—four times higher than in 2021.
- Cases include a pensioner raided for calling a minister an “idiot” and a 14-year-old raided for posting a banned hashtag on TikTok.
The Rest of The Story:
The German government, with help from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), executed a sweeping enforcement operation aimed at what it calls “hate and incitement” on the internet.
On Wednesday morning, police stormed homes and seized electronic devices from 170 individuals, many accused of politically incorrect or racially offensive speech online.
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul, despite a rising violent crime rate in his own state, cheered the effort.
“Digital arsonists must not be able to hide behind their cell phones or computers,” he said.
Reul’s state carried out 14 of the nationwide cases.
Germany’s Paragraph 188 law, used to prosecute insults or hate against politicians, has opened the door to controversial prosecutions.
One example: Stefan Niehoff, an elderly man whose home was raided for calling a former economic minister an “idiot.”
Authorities later dropped that charge and pursued him over retweets—retweets that were reportedly anti-Nazi in nature.
NEW: 60 Minutes joins German police as they raid a man’s home for sharing a “racist” cartoon online.
JD Vance was 100% right about Germany and the buffoons in the media acted like he was crazy.
60 Minutes: “Is it a crime to insult people online?”
German prosectors: “Yes”
60… pic.twitter.com/DXnbAq2M3d
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 17, 2025
Commentary:
Germany is no longer the free nation it pretends to be.
This latest wave of arrests shows a clear move back to authoritarianism.
A government that raids homes over political opinions or rude words is not a democracy. It’s something far more dangerous.
Germany has a long and troubled relationship with speech and dissent.
From its imperial days to the Nazi era to communist East Germany, censorship has always loomed large.
And now it’s returned—this time under the false promise of “protecting democracy.”
When a nation’s police force spends more time chasing down teenagers for hashtags or raiding pensioners over name-calling than tackling real crime, priorities have collapsed.
Germany’s violent crime is soaring—especially due to mass immigration—yet police are being ordered to go after internet users instead.
Even elected opposition leaders, like Marie-Thérèse Kaiser from AfD, have faced legal scrutiny for daring to criticize the government’s handling of immigration and crime.
The fact that the state targets people for complaining about the very policies making communities less safe should alarm anyone who values liberty.
And it’s not just isolated cases. Germany now holds regular “days of action” to punish speech, with reporting centers—often run by far-left groups—feeding tips to police.
This looks less like public safety and more like political control.
A teenager having his home raided for using a patriotic hashtag shows the absurd extremes of this crackdown.
Free nations don’t criminalize slogans or memes. They don’t jail people over opinions. They certainly don’t deploy police over digital “hurt feelings.”
Let’s be honest—Germany has crossed a line.
These are not the actions of a free state. These are the actions of a government afraid of its people. It’s not hard to see where this road ends.
The Bottom Line:
Germany is moving quickly down a dark path.
By criminalizing online speech and raiding citizens’ homes for mild political criticism, the country is abandoning the principles of liberty.
Free expression is dying in the heart of Europe, and the world should take notice.
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