Anyone who condones terrorist acts through comments or likes on social media should be more easily deported from Germany. This was decided by the German government in the cabinet at the end of June. In future, immigration authorities will be able to deport people who support or promote terrorist acts online without criminal proceedings. Unlike in the past, a comment or like will suffice. This regulation is part of an ongoing legislative process and still has to be passed by the Bundestag before it can come into force.
Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser has introduced the proposal and justifies it in a press release: “We are taking tough action against Islamist and anti-Semitic hate crime online. In Germany, too, Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Israel were celebrated in the most disgusting way on social media. The way in which the terrible Islamist knife attack in Mannheim was glorified online is just as inhumane.”
The cabinet decision has caused excitement and uncertainty among migrants and refugees on social media. The new regulation will not apply to German citizens, as they cannot be deported. However, the new naturalization law, which has been in force since 26 June, allows citizenship to be revoked within 10 years if the declaration of commitment to the free and democratic basic order proves to be false, for example due to statements made online. Lawyer Julia Kraft from Berlin, an expert and specialist lawyer for migration law, confirmed this to tuenews INTERNATIONAL on request: “According to the legal situation, it is indeed conceivable that a problematic like could lead to a revocation of naturalization. It will certainly be debatable in detail whether the requirements for a revocation are met and whether the principle of proportionality is observed.” Kraft is critical of the effects of this regulation: “This means a high level of legal uncertainty for those affected and is therefore a burden. It is to be feared that the regulations will have an inappropriate impact on the exercise of freedom of expression, meaning that people will no longer express their opinions publicly for fear of negative consequences, even though they have the right to do so.”
Thomas Oberhäuser, Chairman of the Migration Law Working Group of the German Bar Association (DAV), is also critical of the draft adopted by the federal government: “You have to develop a lot of juridical imagination to define the posting of a ‘like’ as dissemination.” In addition, it is often difficult for laypersons to immediately recognize whether the content is terrorist or not. And the immigration authorities would certainly not be able to check for “likes” on social media on a large scale.
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