16 - DISCIPLINA 16 Democracia na Alemanha - Johannes Hillje

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Curso
Democracia e 
Combate à
Desinformação
DISCIPLINA 16 – Democracia na Alemanha 
(Germany‘s well-fortified democracy) 
PROFESSOR
Johannes Hillje
AGENDA
1.	Definiton:	What	is	a	well-fortified	democracy?	
2.	Historic	background:	Germany's	way	to	a	well-fortified	democracy	
3.	Instruments	of	the	well-fortified	democracy	
4.	Disinformation	as	a	challenge	to	German	democracy	
5.	Strategies	against	Disinformation
AGENDA
1.	Definiton:	What	is	a	well-fortified	democracy?	
2.	Historic	background:	Germany's	way	to	a	well-fortified	democracy	
3.	Instruments	of	the	well-fortified	democracy	
4.	Disinformation	as	a	challenge	to	German	democracy	
5.	Strategies	against	Disinformation
DEFINTION
„Well-fortified democracy means that 
the democratic state has means 
and instruments to defend itself 
against persons and organisations that 
want to abolish the liberal democratic 
order laid down in the constitution“ 
Source: Schroeder/Grotz, 2021, p. 37
AGENDA
1.	Definiton:	What	is	a	well-fortified	democracy?	
2.	Historic	background:	Germany's	way	to	a	well-fortified	democracy	
3.	Instruments	of	the	well-fortified	democracy	
4.	Disinformation	as	a	challenge	to	German	democracy	
5.	Strategies	against	Disinformation
HISTORIC	BACKGROUND
Weimar	Republic	
1918	-	1933
HISTORIC	BACKGROUND
Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s Propaganda Minister, in 1935: 
„When democracy granted democratic methods for us in the 
times of opposition, this was bound to happen in a 
democratic system. However, we National Socialists never 
asserted that we represented a democratic point of view, but 
we have declared openly that we used democratic methods 
only in order to gain the power and that, after assuming the 
power, we would deny to our adversaries without any 
consideration the means which were granted to us in the 
times of opposition.“ 
HISTORIC	BACKGROUND
Karl Loewenstein in 1937: 
"The causes for the failure of the democratic experiment 
in Germany are by far too complex to be measured in 
terms of a single denominator. But the lack of militancy of 
the Weimar Republic against subversive movements, 
even though clearly recognized as such, stands out in the 
post-war predicament of democracy both as an 
illustration and as a warning" 
Source: Loewenstein, 1937, p. 426 
HISTORIC	BACKGROUND
Carlo Schmid, Member of the Parliamentary Council, 
in 1948: 
"It does not belong to the idea of democracy that it offers 
the instruments for its own abolishment. You need to 
have the courage to be intolerant against those, who 
want to exploit democracy, in order to kill it.“ 
AGENDA
1.	Definiton:	What	is	a	well-fortified	democracy?	
2.	Historic	background:	Germany's	way	to	a	well-fortified	democracy	
3.	Instruments	of	the	well-fortified	democracy	
4.	Disinformation	as	a	challenge	to	German	democracy	
5.	Strategies	against	Disinformation
•	The	Federal	Constitutional	Court	can	restrict	the	basic	rights	of	people	
who	fight	against	the	constitutional	order	(Art.	8)	
•	Political	parties	and	other	groups	which	are	hostile	to	the	constitution	
can	be	banned	by	the	Federal	Constitutional	Court	(Art.	9	+	21)	
•	The	Federal	Police	and	also	the	Military	can	be	mobilized	in	the	case	
of	severe	threats	of	the	liberal	democratic	order	(Art.	91	+	87a)	
•	Every	civil	servant	is	sworn	to	defend	the	constitution	and	the	
constitutional	order	(Art.	33)
INSTRUMENTS	OF	THE	WELL-FORTIFIED	DEMOCRACY		
IN	THE	GERMAN	CONSTITUTION
•	German	citizen	has	the	right	to	resistance	against	anyone	who	wants	
to	abolish	the	constitutional	order	as	a	last	resort	(Art.	20)	
	
—	
•	A	domestic	intelligence	service,	Federal	Office	for	the	Protection	of	
the	Constitution,	has	be	founded,	whose	main	purpose	is	to	investigate	
parties	and	other	organisations	hostile	to	the	constitution	(in	particular	
terrorist	organization,	far-right	and	far-left	parties)
INSTRUMENTS	OF	THE	WELL-FORTIFIED	DEMOCRACY		
IN	THE	GERMAN	CONSTITUTION
INSTRUMENTS	OF	THE	WELL-FORTIFIED	DEMOCRACY		
IN	THE	GERMAN	CONSTITUTION
AGENDA
1.	Definiton:	What	is	a	well-fortified	democracy?	
2.	Historic	background:	Germany's	way	to	a	well-fortified	democracy	
3.	Instruments	of	the	well-fortified	democracy	
4.	Disinformation	as	a	challenge	to	German	democracy	
5.	Strategies	against	Disinformation
"Disinformation	is	the	consciously	and	targeted	
dissemination	of	false	or	misleading	information	or	
information	which	suppresses	parts	of	the	relevant	facts.	
Sources	of	disinformation	are	foreign	state-	or	state-
controlled	actors	or	non-state	actors	with	political	
motivations.“	
	
Source:	verfassungschutz.de	
HOW	THE	FEDERAL	OFFICE	FOR	THE	PROTECTION	OF	
THE	CONSTITUTION	DEFINES	DISINFORMATION
http://verfassungschutz.de
„The goals of disinformation are to

- cause uncertainty and insecurity in the public

- influence the public opinion

- deflect public attention 

- emotionalize the public discourse

- fuel public polarization

- create distrust in the state and its institutions“



Source: verfassungschutz.de 
HOW	THE	FEDERAL	OFFICE	FOR	THE	PROTECTION	OF	
THE	CONSTITUTION	DEFINES	DISINFORMATION
http://verfassungschutz.de
Covid	19 Russia’s	war	on	Ukraine
Migration
MAIN	TOPICS	OF	DISINFORMATION	IN	GERMANY
AGENDA
1.	Definiton:	What	is	a	well-fortified	democracy?	
2.	Historic	background:	Germany's	way	to	a	well-fortified	democracy	
3.	Instruments	of	the	well-fortified	democracy	
4.	Disinformation	as	a	challenge	to	German	democracy	
5.	Strategies	against	Disinformation
• 	Monitoring	and	Analysis	
• 	Debunking	
• 	Pro-active	and	fact-based	communication	
• 	Resilience/education	of	the	population	
• 	Regulation	of	social	media	
• 	Support	of	research	on	disinformation	
• 	Cooperation	within	the	European	Union	(regulation,	monitoring)
AREAS	OF	ACTION	AGAINST	DISINFORMATION	
IN	GERMANY
• 	Monitoring	and	Analysis	
• 	Debunking	
• 	Pro-active	and	fact-based	communication	
• 	Resilience/education	of	the	population	
• 	Regulation	of	social	media	
• 	Support	of	research	on	disinformation	
• 	Cooperation	within	the	European	Union	(regulation,	monitoring)
AREAS	OF	ACTION	AGAINST	DISINFORMATION	
IN	GERMANY
DEBUNKING
DEBUNKING
• 	Monitoring	and	Analysis	
• 	Debunking	
• 	Pro-active	and	fact-based	communication	
• 	Resilience/education	of	the	population	
• 	Regulation	of	social	media	
• 	Support	of	research	on	disinformation	
• 	Cooperation	within	the	European	Union	(regulation,	monitoring)
AREAS	OF	ACTION	AGAINST	DISINFORMATION	
IN	GERMANY
RESILIENCE
• 	Monitoring	and	Analysis	
• 	Debunking	
• 	Pro-active	and	fact-based	communication	
• 	Resilience/education	of	the	population	
• 	Regulation	of	social	media	
• 	Support	of	research	on	disinformation	
• 	Cooperation	within	the	European	Union	(regulation,	monitoring)
AREAS	OF	ACTION	AGAINST	DISINFORMATION	
IN	GERMANY
REGULATION	OF	SOCIAL	MEDIA
• 	Monitoring	and	Analysis	
• 	Debunking	
• 	Pro-active	and	fact-based	communication	
• 	Resilience/education	of	the	population	
• 	Regulation	of	social	media	
• 	Support	of	research	on	disinformation	
• 	Cooperation	within	the	European	Union	(regulation,	monitoring)
AREAS	OF	ACTION	AGAINST	DISINFORMATION	
IN	GERMANY
EUROPEAN	COOPERATION
EUROPEAN	COOPERATION
• 	Monitoring	and	Analysis	
• 	Debunking	
• 	Pro-active	and	fact-based	communication	
• 	Resilience/education	of	the	population	
• 	Regulation	of	social	media	
• 	Support	of	research	on	disinformation	
• 	Cooperation	within	the	European	Union	(regulation,	monitoring)
AREAS	OF	ACTION	AGAINST	DISINFORMATION	
IN	GERMANY
» The Federal Government will set out a strategy to increase our capability to act 
in the face of hybrid threats, with the aim of expanding its skills for identifying, 
analysing and countering hybrid threats and further developing its response 
instruments. This also includes enhancing the analytical capabilities of our 
intelligence services. 
» The Federal Government will focus on using the existing mechanisms and 
structures to counter hybrid threats in theEU and NATO, the G7 and the OSCE, 
and develop them further. This includes expanding the Hybrid Toolbox adopted 
in the EU’s Strategic Compass and building on NATO-EU cooperation in this 
area.
GERMANY’S	NEW	NATIONAL	SECURITY	STRATEGY
» The Federal Government will set out a strategy on tackling disinformation. This 
strategy will improve the tools for the early identification of manipulative 
communications in the information arena, improve our resilience and responsiveness 
and also target our ability to defend our democratic values and our positions 
convincingly on the international stage. 
»  Through its public relations work, the Federal Government will ensure easy access 
to trans- parent reliable information about government action in order not to leave 
relevant media space open for disinformation campaigns to fill. 
GERMANY’S	NEW	NATIONAL	SECURITY	STRATEGY
»  The Federal Government will increase its support for applied research and 
development on the subject of disinformation. We therefore intend to put forward 
strategies to strengthen digital, data and media competence and to draft concepts for 
boosting resilience in educational institutions. 
»  In order to prevent the spread of radicalising content via the internet, unlawful 
content needs to be identified and deleted even more rapidly. Those behind such acts 
must be found and held criminally responsible.
GERMANY’S	NEW	NATIONAL	SECURITY	STRATEGY
AGENDA
1.	Definiton:	What	is	a	well-fortified	democracy?	
2.	Historic	background:	Germany's	way	to	a	well-fortified	democracy	
3.	Instruments	of	the	well-fortified	democracy	
4.	Disinformation	as	a	challenge	to	German	democracy	
5.	Strategies	against	Disinformation	
6.	Summary	and	Outlook	
SUMMARY
1.	Well-fortified	democracy	means	that	the	democratic	state	
has	got	instruments	to	defend	itself	against	forces	that	want	to	
abolish	democracy	
2.	Disinformation	presents	a	new	and	different	kind	of	challenge	to	the	
well-fortified	democratic	nation-state,	mainly	because	it	is	a	global	
phenomena,	which	requires	global	answers	
3.	Building	resilience	and	media	literacy	amongst	the	population	seems	
to	be	one	of	the	most	important	measures	for	tackling	disinformation	
in	the	long	run
OUTLOOK:	WHAT	SHOULD	BE	DONE?
Source:	Beth	Goldberg,	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wedOEEJ-jyw
OUTLOOK:	WHAT	SHOULD	BE	DONE?
Source:	Beth	Goldberg,	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wedOEEJ-jyw
OUTLOOK:	WHAT	SHOULD	BE	DONE?
Source:	First	Draft	News
EXAMPLE	PREBUNKING
EXAMPLE	PREBUNKING
OUTLOOK:	WHAT	SHOULD	BE	DONE?
Source:	Beth	Goldberg,	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wedOEEJ-jyw
DEBUKING:	TRUTH	SANDWICH
Source:	George	Lakoff
Thank	you.	
Dr.	Johannes	Hillje	
Web:	www.johanneshillje.de	
Email:	mail@johanneshillje.de	
Twitter:	@JHillje	
LITERATURE	AND	OTHER	SOURCES
European	Council	(2022):	EU	imposes	sanctions	on	state-owned	outlets	RT/Russia	Today	and	Sputnik's	broadcasting	in	the	
EU,	https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/03/02/eu-imposes-sanctions-on-state-owned-outlets-
rt-russia-today-and-sputnik-s-broadcasting-in-the-eu/	
Federal	Government	of	Germany	(2023):	National	Security	Strategy,	https://www.nationalesicherheitsstrategie.de/en.html	
Federal	Office	for	the	Protection	of	the	Constitution	(2022):	Informationsblatt	Desinformation,	https://
www.verfassungsschutz.de/SharedDocs/publikationen/DE/wirtschafts-wissenschaftsschutz/2023-04-14-infoblatt-
desinformation.html	
Lakoff,	George	(2018):	Truth	Sandwich,	FrameLab	Podcast,	https://soundcloud.com/user-253479697/14-truth-sandwich-
time	
Loewenstein,	Karl	(1937):	Militant	Democracy,	in:	The	American	Political	Science	Review,	Vol.	31,	No.	3,	pp.	417-432	
Rossol,	Nadine/Benjamin	Ziemann	(2021):	The	Oxford	Handbook	of	The	Weimar	Republic,	OUP,	Oxford	
Schroeder,	Wolfgang/Florian	Grotz	(2021):	Das	politische	System	der	Bundesrepublik	Deutschland,	VS	Springer,	Wiesbaden