Police in Germany have executed more than 170 operations targeting people they referred to as “digital arsonists”.
Starting early on the morning of June 25, officers from the Federal Criminal Police Office raided the homes of people suspected of running “criminal posts” online.
The police move was not the first such in Germany, where it is flagged a “day of action”, targeting alleged authors of “online hate and hate messages”.
This was the 12th time that the police took such nationwide action against so-called politically motivated crime (PMK).
Two-thirds of those people whom officers hit had reportedly made right-wing radical statements. The police also went after alleged religious extremists and left-wing radicals.
The raids also included people who were suspected of violating a specific part of the German criminal code, namely those who allegedly insulted politicians.
German politicians have been increasingly using this law, leading to hefty fines against those found guilty of calling politicians “morons”, for example, or mocking them with degrading images.
Greens politicians in particular have made efforts to seek redress against who insulted them.
COMMENT: How calling a German finance minister a ‘moron’ leads to cops and criminal charges.
By John Rosenthal. ⬇️ https://t.co/R56YxEbM5l
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) May 23, 2025
One of the alleged culprits targeted by the latest raids reportedly wrote on X, “Heil Hitler!! Again. We are Germans and a successful nation. Male foreigners out.”
Starting from 6am, police officers searched the houses of suspects and confiscated computers, mobile phones and tablets.
“Digital arsonists must not be able to hide behind their cell phones or computers”, North Rhine-Westphalian interior minister Herbert Reul, a Christian Democratic Union MP, told news agency dpa.
“Many people have forgotten the difference between hatred and opinion, but it’s so simple: If you don’t do it in the real world, it’s not appropriate to do it digitally. It’s time for more attitude, offline and online.”
In May, the Federal Criminal Police reported that 10,732 crimes related to so-called “hate postings” were recorded last year, an increase of about 34 per cent compared to 2023. Compared to 2021, the numbers have about quadrupled.
On the same day of the latest raids, a tweet by someone working for the State-funded Federal Trans Association surfaced. The message was allegedly a public call for the murder of the “irresponsibly rich”, calling it “ethically imperative”.
The US has raised concerns about Germany’s approach to free speech, with figures including Vice President JD Vance criticising its strict hate-speech and insult laws as the stifling of free expression.
At the 2025 Munich Security Conference, Vance suggested US NATO support could hinge on Germany respecting US free-speech values.
Germany argued the laws prevented harmful rhetoric while balancing free expression.
In the German State of Saxony, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) has advocated for legislation that would make ungracious behaviour and lewd verbal remarks a criminal offence. https://t.co/dC2ZXiDPIh
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) June 24, 2025
