Germany's AfD forced to retract claims Environment Ministry gave millions to Hillary

[GennGreymane]

Germany's AfD forced to retract claims Environment Ministry gave millions to Hillary Clinton campaign

https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-afd-f...ign/a-44888526

A Berlin regional court on Monday ordered the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and its board member Georg Pazderski (pictured) to publicly retract false claims that the Federal Environment Ministry (BMU) donated millions of dollars to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2016.

An AfD press release, authored by Pazderski and published in November 2016, stated that the BMU had "put several millions of taxpayers' money into the Clinton election campaign."

The court found that the AfD's "serious accusations" were not only false but also risked "jeopardizing public confidence" in the federal ministry. As well as misspending taxpayer money, the populist party also made groundless claims that the BMU intervened in the US election.

The AfD's misleading claim was based on the fact that BMU had funded a climate protection project in eastern Africa as part of its International Climate Initiative (ICI). The project was being implemented by the Clinton Foundation.

The Foundation is also involved in a second ICI project in Africa. However, the ministry's decision to fund both projects was made back in 2013, long before the start of the 2016 US election campaign.

Read more: How the far-right AfD taps into Germany's East-West divide

The BMU had already won a court order back in December 2016, forcing the AfD to remove the press release from its website. However, the populist party had so far refused to issue a retraction.

The defendants — AfD board member Pazderski and the federal party itself — were ordered to bear the costs of the lawsuit, although an appeal is still possible.

[Cthulhu 2020]

Just imagine if libel of this level was illegal in the US - not to the degree of jailtime, but illegal to the degree of forcing people to retract their statements when proven false, else they get slapped with a hefty fine.

Oh well, first amendment always was the conservative's best friend, even if they don't even understand how it even works 90% of the time.

[Omega10]

Just imagine if libel of this level was illegal in the US - not to the degree of jailtime, but illegal to the degree of forcing people to retract their statements when proven false, else they get slapped with a hefty fine.

Oh well, first amendment always was the conservative's best friend, even if they don't even understand how it even works 90% of the time.

This IS a difference between the US and Germany. In the US, publishing these kinds of articles is strongly defended as legitimate free speech. In Germany, apparently, not so much.

[PosPosPos]

Proves that the deplorable alt-right, and by extension Hillary as a convenient scapegoat/deflection, transcends borders and boundaries.

[smityx]

They'll sometimes retract false stories. Usually though they bury the retraction on the bottom of page 24 in small print or at 4 AM inbetween commercials for the latest ED drug and Gold sellers.

[Wyrt]

Why can't we do stuff like that in the US? Fox would probably go bankrupt from all the court fees.

[Omega10]

Why can't we do stuff like that in the US? Fox would probably go bankrupt from all the court fees.

Made me laugh. It wouldn't take long either.

[Felya]

They'll sometimes retract false stories. Usually though they bury the retraction on the bottom of page 24 in small print or at 4 AM inbetween commercials for the latest ED drug and Gold sellers.

The worst part is when they run the story, but by the time results of the story come out, no one cars and the story fades. A couple I personally highlight... Wide stance Larry Craig, never resigned, even after holding a press conference saying he is resigning. ACORN was cleared of all charges, but no one cared since it was no longer salacious. Swiftboat was even recanted, but people still repeat it and it cost Kerry an election.

[Omega10]

The worst part is when they run the story, but by the time results of the story come out, no one cars and the story fades. A couple I personally highlight... Wide stance Larry Craig, never resigned, even after holding a press conference saying he is resigning. ACORN was cleared of all charges, but no one cared since it was no longer salacious. Swiftboat was even recanted, but people still repeat it and it cost Kerry an election.

This is a huge problem, and I have no idea how to successfully fight this. Dishonest stories stay big in the media until they do their dirty work, and after that they just kind of disappear along with an "oops, that story was false" narrative.

The US has paid a huge price for all of these lies that have had oversized effects on our politics. And I have not heard of even one decent plan to counter these, neither in the past nor in the future

[Felya]

This is a huge problem, and I have no idea how to successfully fight this. Dishonest stories stay big in the media until they do their dirty work, and after that they just kind of disappear along with an "oops, that story was false" narrative.

The US has paid a huge price for all of these lies that have had oversized effects on our politics. And I have not heard of even one decent plan to counter these, neither in the past nor in the future

That’s the thing, I don’t think it can be fixed. If people don’t care, they won’t click and if people don’t click, it doesn’t stay on front page to be clicked. The fox lying has a solution, but people not giving a shit, no mater the source... is not something I’ve ever had a solution for. People are strange...

[Arenis]

This IS a difference between the US and Germany. In the US, publishing these kinds of articles is strongly defended as legitimate free speech. In Germany, apparently, not so much.

The US could do with some German objectivity.

[Mormolyce]

Forced to retract false comments?

Jesus there's a law other countries should think about emulating.

[Noradin]

They'll sometimes retract false stories. Usually though they bury the retraction on the bottom of page 24 in small print or at 4 AM inbetween commercials for the latest ED drug and Gold sellers.

In Germany the retraction must appear in the same place and be just as visible as original story was.

[Dhrizzle]

Best retraction ever courtesy of the Daily Mirror-

[Deleted]

Good, that level of straight up lying, with a political purpose, should not be allowed ever.

[Acidbaron]

This IS a difference between the US and Germany. In the US, publishing these kinds of articles is strongly defended as legitimate free speech. In Germany, apparently, not so much.

What value does freedom of speech have when its main use is to deceive, misinform and create hatred towards others?
To me it it appears, ignorance, arrogance and even violence are celebrated instead of any actual freedom.

[TEHPALLYTANK]

I wish our libel laws were more like Germany's; watching Alex Jones go to jail for pushing his conspiracies would be rather satisfying.

[Felya]

I wish our libel laws were more like Germany's; watching Alex Jones go to jail for pushing his conspiracies would be rather satisfying.

No it wouldn’t. It would be nice if he admitted to saying bullshit, but silencing people doesn’t work. On top of that... the reason it should be blatantly obvious Alex Jones is full of shit? If the evil government that he claims exists, actually existed... he would be in jail for pushing conspiracy theories.

[Slant]

No it wouldn’t. It would be nice if he admitted to saying bullshit, but silencing people doesn’t work. On top of that... the reason it should be blatantly obvious Alex Jones is full of shit? If the evil government that he claims exists, actually existed... he would be in jail for pushing conspiracy theories.

Hum, German press landscape is a bit more cautious. I'm actually surprised someone is stupid enough to get caught in this. This is very unusual in that most people know how to phrase shit so it doesn't blip on the false claim radar. Just goes to show that nazis are still dumb fucks like they've always been.

As for conspiracy theories and Alex Jones, I'm fairly certain he wouldn't pass for journalism here and would fit into the comedy category, where libel and false claims have much looser restrictions than in journalism. Not that any of you can read it, but Der Postillon is a wonderfully subtle satirical "newspaper" that is known for misleading the uninitiated into believing all kind of crap that is obviously just a joke on second thought.

[Felya]

Hum, German press landscape is a bit more cautious. I'm actually surprised someone is stupid enough to get caught in this. This is very unusual in that most people know how to phrase shit so it doesn't blip on the false claim radar. Just goes to show that nazis are still dumb fucks like they've always been.

I am fine with what Germany did here. Jailing is way too far. Fines that are leveraged against community service and most of all, printing the truth within the same scope as the lie, is totally cool.

As for conspiracy theories and Alex Jones, I'm fairly certain he wouldn't pass for journalism here and would fit into the comedy category, where libel and false claims have much looser restrictions than in journalism. Not that any of you can read it, but Der Postillon is a wonderfully subtle satirical "newspaper" that is known for misleading the uninitiated into believing all kind of crap that is obviously just a joke on second thought.

Yeah, I don’t know what he even fits into. How do you categorize something, whose existence is predicated on their premise not being true. Normally, that is satire... it’s like a catch 22... but, it doesn’t get treated as such by his loyalist... Which unfortunately includes Trump.