00:00How does the German coalition plan to tackle disinformation?
00:08Commentators have been warning that the German coalition government led by Friedrich Mertz
00:14is set to introduce censorship laws under a Ministry of Truth in a new threat to free
00:20speech.
00:21We fact-checked these claims.
00:23The coalition agreement between Mertz, CDU, CSU and Centre-left SPD says the deliberate
00:29dissemination of false, factual claims is not covered by freedom of expression.
00:35Critics equate this with a ban on lies, but two legal experts told Iroverify that this
00:42is nothing new and corresponds with the German constitution and the case law of the federal
00:48constitutional court.
00:49Article 5 of the German constitution guarantees the freedom of expression and opinion, but
00:55deliberate disinformation, strictly speaking, is not always protected under freedom of
01:01expression.
01:02These cases, however, are extremely rare.
01:04Whenever there is doubt, you are within the scope of freedom of expression.
01:09Moreover, if you combine factual statements with value statements, evaluations, comments,
01:15you are also within the scope of freedom of expression, even if the factual part might
01:20be wrong.
01:21Many commentators also say the government is establishing a so-called Ministry of Truth
01:25to define truth versus lies.
01:28This claim is unfounded.
01:29Rather, the agreement says that the non-governmental media regulator must be able to take action against
01:36information manipulation.
01:38This refers to the 14 independent state media authorities in Germany, which are organised on
01:44federal state level.
01:45They do currently have the power to hold the media accountable for disseminating false information,
01:51although currently this rarely happens.
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