Germany's Bundestag descends into recrimination after a "firewall" against working with the far-right cracks.

Summary

Germany’s parliament erupted in controversy after the far-right AfD backed a CDU-led motion for stricter asylum policies, breaking a long-standing “firewall” against cooperation with extremists.

CDU leader Friedrich Merz defended the move, but Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned it as an “unforgivable mistake.”

The AfD, polling second nationally, celebrated the vote as a victory.

Merz’s stance signals a shift from Angela Merkel’s centrist policies, sparking concerns that mainstream conservatives are normalizing far-right influence ahead of Germany’s upcoming snap election.

  • Optional@lemmy.worldEnglish
    102·
    9 hours ago

    It’s not really a question of democracy as such, it’s a question of media literacy and policy.

    Kids under 16 should not be on social media. Social Media should be required to expunge all their data every 30 days. Influence campaigns that we know russia and China run should be illegal, and punishable.

    That’s for starters. Media theory for everyone. Explain how television works on television. Limit advertising. Limit demographic data for private interests, not much more for government interests.

    The hole that we’re in isn’t because people have racist views (though they do) , or that the mechanisms of democracy are under attack (though they are) - it’s that we all stare at lighted rectangles all day. And what those rectangles are doing is grinding everyone’s discourse into mush.

    • ISOmorph@feddit.orgEnglish
      21·
      9 hours ago

      And who do you think is controlling the media and funding the educational systems? Olligarchs and their puppet politicians. You won’t get rid of them and the system they perverted beyond recognition without luigis and guillotines.

      • Optional@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        6 hours ago

        I disagree, but if that is your belief, you’ll need to get to guillotining and . . luigi-ing. The longer you wait the harder it would be.

        Like, here, on Lemmy, we have a media not controlled by them. And an actual, physical, elementary classroom is somewhat influenced by oligarchs in the form of government mandates, but it can also point out that influence and work against it.

        • lolcatnip@reddthat.comEnglish
          1·
          3 hours ago

          It’s not enough for free media just to exist. It has to be mainstream to have any hope of counteracting all the disinformation out there.