German MP investigated over anti-Muslim tweets
AfD deputy leader Beatrix von Storch’s Twitter account was briefly suspended
The deputy leader of Germany’s far-right AfD Party is facing a police investigation after she made anti-Muslim remarks on Twitter on new year’s eve. She could face charges of incitement to hatred.
Beatrix von Storch accused Cologne police of appeasing “barbaric, gang-raping Muslim hordes of men” after officers tweeted a new year greeting in Arabic, the BBC reports.
Twitter removed the tweet and suspended von Storch’s account for 12 hours for breaching the site’s rules on hate speech. After regaining access to her account, she wrote: “Facebook has now also censored me. This is the end of the constitutional state.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Von Storch’s tweets came as Germany began to enforce strict new rules governing hate speech on social media, which could result in sites like Twitter and Facebook being fined up to £44m if they fail to remove “obviously illegal” material within 24 hours of being notified.
Internet activists and journalists have joined the AfD in opposing the new law, says Deutsche Welle, “not least because the government has deliberately left the task of deleting content or blocking users to the internet platforms themselves, rather than having courts make decisions”.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Cutting cables: the war being waged under the sea
In the Spotlight Two undersea cables were cut in the Baltic sea, sparking concern for the global network
By The Week UK Published
-
How people-smuggling gangs work
The Explainer The Government has promised to 'smash' the gangs that smuggle migrants across the Channel. Who are they and how do they work?
By The Week UK Published
-
Crossword: December 1, 2024
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Cutting cables: the war being waged under the sea
In the Spotlight Two undersea cables were cut in the Baltic sea, sparking concern for the global network
By The Week UK Published
-
The nuclear threat: is Vladimir Putin bluffing?
Talking Point Kremlin's newest ballistic missile has some worried for Nato nations
By The Week UK Published
-
Russia vows retaliation for Ukrainian missile strikes
Speed Read Ukraine's forces have been using U.S.-supplied, long-range ATCMS missiles to hit Russia
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Funeral in Berlin: Scholz pulls the plug on his coalition
Talking Point In the midst of Germany's economic crisis, the 'traffic-light' coalition comes to a 'ignoble end'
By The Week UK Published
-
Has the Taliban banned women from speaking?
Today's Big Question 'Rambling' message about 'bizarre' restriction joins series of recent decrees that amount to silencing of Afghanistan's women
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Cuba's energy crisis
The Explainer Already beset by a host of issues, the island nation is struggling with nationwide blackouts
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published
-
Putin's fixation with shamans
Under the Radar Secretive Russian leader, said to be fascinated with occult and pagan rituals, allegedly asked for blessing over nuclear weapons
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Chimpanzees are dying of human diseases
Under the radar Great apes are vulnerable to human pathogens thanks to genetic similarity, increased contact and no immunity
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published