Germany/Ministry/Interior

Germany/Ministry/Interior
Formation	1949
Headquarters	Berlin, Bonn, Germany
Leader	Germany/Minister/Interior
Subgroups	•  Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution •  Federal Police (Germany)
Tasked with the internal "security" of Germany.

The Federal Ministry of the Interior and for Community (German: Bundesministerium des Innern und für Heimat; Heimat also translates to "homeland"), abbreviated BMI, is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. Its main office is in Berlin, with a secondary seat in Bonn. The BMI is tasked with the internal "security" of Germany.

It is comparable to the British Home Office or a combination of the US Department of Homeland Security and the US Department of Justice, because both manage several law enforcement agencies.

It maintains, among other agencies, the two biggest federal law enforcement agencies in Germany, the Federal Police and the Federal Criminal Police Office.

It is also responsible for the federal domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

Current activities of the departments and authorities against disinformation

Internal documents leaked to NachDenkSeiten by a whistleblower revealed an extensive use of state propaganda, in particular with regard to the official involvement of the media (e.g. Spiegel and Stern), Western social media corporations, educational institutions and "fact checkers". The whistleblower also explained to NachDenkseiten that the document was only "the tip of the iceberg" and that the projects listed were not complete. The whistleblower stressed that everything listed in the document only include the measures that could be admitted to if necessary. The more sensitive measures were not put on paper.

In addition to the Ministry of the Interior, the Foreign Office appears in the document as a protagonist in a postulated "fight against (Russian) disinformation". The Foreign Office networks primarily ("intensively and bilaterally") with representatives of the USA on questions of disinformation.

The document is entitled "Current activities of the departments and authorities against disinformation in connection with the RUS war against UKR", and lists the corresponding activities of the federal ministries and subordinate authorities in detail as of June 27th, 2022.

• The list begins with the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) under Nancy Faeser. The Federal Ministry of the Interior is to coordinate the "detection and defense against hybrid threats" in a leading and "interdepartmental" manner. In this context, among other things, a situation report "Hybrid Threats" with a focus on Russia-Ukraine is to be prepared every two weeks. The so-called "10-point resilience plan" listed in the document is particularly striking.

• The first point in this plan is the concerted "linking to fact checkers on the websites of the federal government".

• Furthermore, brochures on "disinformation in the context of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine" are to be produced and sent to federal ministries, members of the Bundestag, states and municipalities. The list is supplemented with the reference: "Distribution to multipliers in civil society is ongoing."

• The 5th point in the "Resilience Plan" is also particularly revealing, this is dedicated to cooperation with the corporate and state press. For example, a "Spiegel background discussion" on March 31 is mentioned. and the preparation of articles by name and interviews with Interior Minister Faeser; explicit reference is made to Stern and Tagesspiegel in this context. It is also mentioned that the term "Task Force Against Disinformation" has been successfully established in reporting. In the document, (Russian) “disinformation” is understood to mean everything that corresponds to a reproduction of the official Russian position.

• Another aspect of the plan is the "outreach into the parliamentary space", i.e. the influence on members of the Bundestag and state parliaments.

• Likewise, a central point in the "resilience plan" is the "cause-related" intensification of contacts and discussions with the platform operators of social networks "in order to sensitize them to state-controlled disinformation". The document explicitly mentions Twitter, Meta, Google/YouTube and Telegram, Tiktok and LinkedIn. The talks are to be held at "State Secretary level" to discuss the "respective strategies of the platforms to combat disinformation, especially in the context of the war in of Ukraine".

• Even elementary school children are being targeted. The plan also is influencing the "curricula in the schools and by involving the adult education centers and voluntary structures". Another project, led by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, is the unspecified use of child reporters from the age of 6 against “disinformation":

Child reporters - strengthening news competence and thus resilience to disinformation of 6-14 year olds through active media work.

• According to the document, the The Federal Press Office (BPA) is responsible for "raising awareness of the issue and dealing with disinformation within the government" The training is not provided by the BPA itself, but by private third-party providers such as the deep state Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) and the Business Council for Democracy of the Hertie Foundation.

Action Plan against right-wing extremism

In 2022, minister Nancy Faeser introduced an "Action Plan against right-wing extremism", where she wants to take action "with a hard hand". "The state must not wait for right-wing extremist worldviews to turn into violent acts," the document says. According to the plan, "conspiracy ideologies" with their "anti-democratic populism" are the "door opener" of right-wing extremism. The aim is to counteract these developments by providing "information and advice". One measure to enforce this is the creation of counselling centres. They could then be contacted by people who "observe or suspect radicalization due to a growing belief in conspiracy" in their private environment. In dealing with "affected persons", the aim is to provide assistance, in order to initiate a deradicalization process. For this purpose, those who want to "get help" to get away from the environment of organized conspiracy followers, such as corona deniers, and would like support in this" should receive "help", thus enabling their "detachment from extremist ideas".

13-point packet

In 2024, minister Faeser introduced a 13-point packet against "right-wing extremism". The new administrative punishments include entry and exit bans are "in order to make it more difficult for them to network internationally". The spooks in the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is also to share its information more intensively with authorities in order to make them aware of far-right networks. The financial flows should also be curbed better. Faeser considers the previous legal hurdle that the spooks are only able to act when there is "incitement to violence" as too high. Instead, a "risk potential" should be sufficient in the future.

The package of measures also provides for faster dismissals from civil service.

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