Bundestag President Bärbel Bas has appealed to people in Germany to become more active against the right. “Right-wing populists are increasingly attacking democracy – networked throughout Europe,” the SPD politician told the “Tagesspiegel”. In certain bubbles on social media you only get information “that reinforces this worldview. A lot of it is fake news.” This affects the political debate.
“But politics alone will not solve the problem of right-wing extremism,” said Bas. “Xenophobia and anti-Semitism do not simply disappear. In view of these dangers, many citizens are too quiet for me.”
Bas is skeptical about possible ban proceedings against the AfD. “Just because we ban a party doesn’t mean we can get this attitude out of our minds,” she said. There are rightly very, very high hurdles to banning a party.
