Top German court contradicts government on ‘far-right’ magazine ban

Berlin banned Compact magazine last year, accusing it of presenting a threat to the German constitutional order.

Germany’s highest administrative court has declared a government ban on Compact magazine to be illegal. The nation’s interior ministry imposed the restriction last year, claiming it was a “right-wing extremist” publication involved in “anti-constitutional” activities.

In its ruling published on Tuesday, the Federal Administrative Court stated that the evidence presented by the interior ministry was insufficient and the “anti-immigration statements” published by the magazine could be interpreted as “exaggerated, but ultimately permissible, criticism of migration policy.”

The ban imposed on Compact and its publisher is therefore “unlawful,” the court concluded. The magazine’s founder and editor-in-chief, Jurgen Elsasser, praised the decision with a post saying “Victory!” on X and publishing an apparently AI-generated video of himself hitting a giant dragon in the head with a sword. “Compact is the sharp sword of the Middle-Earth! Hobbits are not powerless!” he wrote in a nod to J.R.R. Tolkien.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dorbrindt acknowledged the court decision and said that his department would “carefully assess the ruling.” The ministry also admitted in a statement that the decision is “final” and cannot be appealed. It nonetheless maintained that such bans against media outlets do not “constitute impermissible prior censorship” and can be applied in the future.

In its ruling, the court did state that the status of media outlet by itself does not grant any entity an exemption from such a ban if it is recognized as justified, and that freedom of press and opinion would not be applicable in such cases.

“Even if the statements expressing the association’s fundamental beliefs are neither criminal nor illegal in themselves, they can be used as evidence for a ban,” the court’s statement said, adding that an organization can be prohibited if it plans to carry out “unconstitutional ideas” in a “combative and aggressive manner.”

The German government designated Compact an extremist outlet in 2021. The publication was launched in 2010 and had a circulation of 40,000. A number of news outlets linked its 2024 ban to its ties to Alternative for Germany (AfD), the second most popular political party in Germany.

The ban also came just days after Compact’s interview with Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, prompting Moscow to link the two events.