Germany: Interior ministers are calling for a crackdown on Indymedia and “left-wing extremists”

[ Screenshot of de.indymedia.org on July 10, 2026. ]


After the Federal Ministry of the Interior banned the website “linksunten” several years ago and subjected its alleged operators to massive repression, the left-wing platform Indymedia is now being targeted. In addition, travel restrictions for “left-wing extremists” are being considered.

The Prohibition Plans

At their most recent Conference of Interior Ministers (IMK), held June 17–19, 26, in Hamburg, the ministers adopted numerous resolutions, including Agenda Items 34 and 35.

Agenda Item 34 calls on the Federal Ministry of the Interior to “examine all legal options for a complete ban on the far-left extremist portal ‘indymedia.org’” and to advocate for such a ban within the federal government; “Criminal law and counterterrorism law already provide the legal basis for decisive action against the ‘indymedia.org’ portal, in particular through the seizure of websites, requests to hosting providers to remove content, and the imposition of website blocks.” It is therefore time “to make more consistent use of these options (...) in law enforcement practice.”

Furthermore, “the currently existing legal basis for restricting the freedom of movement of violent (left-wing) extremists should be utilized, and the creation of further possibilities for restricting freedom of movement should be examined”—in other words, freedom of travel is to be restricted even further in order to “combat left-wing extremist networks operating across borders.”

In addition, under Agenda Item 35, the IMK “notes with concern” the “increasing number of criminal and violent acts originating from the left-wing extremist spectrum” and calls for “intensifying the exchange of information among security agencies,” thereby “enhancing the investigation and combating of violent left-wing extremism, particularly with regard to the prevention and prosecution of criminal offenses.”

Outlook

The IMK’s measures and plans fit seamlessly into the European and international developments of recent years. Whether it’s the “Antifa bans” in Hungary or the U.S., or similar plans by the Swiss canton of Bern—not to mention the ever-escalating use of informants, informant laws, and professional bans targeting left-wing activists.

This is accompanied by the accelerating fascistization of politics, the judiciary, and society in the Federal Republic of Germany; the “mustiness of a thousand years” makes it vehemently clear that it was never truly eradicated.

It’s reasonable to assume that even today, people suspected of being active as moderators on Indymedia are being monitored by intelligence agencies so that, in the event of a ban, they can strike nationwide or across Europe.

Not letting ourselves be intimidated by this—that’s what matters!

Resist the process of fascistization!

Solidarity with everyone who makes Indymedia possible!

Solidarity with Indymedia!

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Original:
Innnenminister:innen blasen zur Jagd auf indymedia und „Linksextremist:innen“
https://de.indymedia.org/node/749687

* Translated using machine :(

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September 2017
Solidarity with Linksunten Indymedia
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/09/04/18802534.php

August 2017
German Government Shuts Down Linksunten Indymedia: What It Means and What to Do
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/08/26/18802250.php