Germany’s Interior Ministry, headed by Nancy Faeser – known for banning media outlets – and the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth have launched a project dubbed, “Advice Compass on Conspiracy Thinking.”
The center is there to provide advice to anyone who “suspect their friends or family members have fallen victim to conspiracy theories,” according to the Interior Ministry.
You can’t make this up, and Germany’s current authorities are no pioneers here. In one form or another, the “spying starts at home” policy – trying to get people to make the state’s population surveillance job easier – has existed before.
But, worryingly, that was/is under some of the most repressive regimes in recent history.
As serious as the matter is, hilariously enough, the German word for “advice” happens to be – “rat.”
“Holistic” is how Faeser chose to describe this approach and the inclusion of the “advice” center into Germany’s overall fight against what the authorities consider to be extremism and disinformation.
Faeser chose to justify the project by linking the issue of conspiracy theories with disinformation and lies, and as has become the habit over these last years, assigning immense power to these phenomena (“They are spread deliberately to divide our society and destroy trust in independent science, free media or democratic institutions.”)
From there on, Faeser hypothesizes that conspiracy theories “can” lead to extremism, crimes, and violence.
She then goes down to explaining why it’s important to keep an eye on your loved ones and report them to the authorities should the first element in this long chain of “harms” forced together – namely, conspiracy theories – be detected.
Faeser observes that people know their family members and friends the best, and are therefore uniquely positioned to know what they think (this is, after all, about policing citizens’ thinking, not actions).
But what to do if a person in your life thinks differently, and cannot be persuaded to change their mind and agree with you? Maybe let them think about what they like?
Not according to Faeser and her political and NGO allies. Hence – “the Compass on Conspiracy Thinking contact point,” is now available to citizens across Germany.
“The first appointment is for anonymous initial advice and assessment of individual needs,” a statement explained, adding, “If the initial consultation reveals a longer-term need for advice, the subsequent advice process is passed on to a local advice center.”
