Confidential documents show German Chancellor Friedrich Merz filed or initiated hundreds of criminal complaints against citizens for online insults, fueling nationwide police raids and raising alarms about political speech suppression under expanded defamation laws.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has emerged as one of the most litigious political figures in modern Germany, filing hundreds of criminal complaints over online criticism and personal insults, according to case files and legal correspondence obtained by Welt am Sonntag.
The revelations depict an unprecedented use of Germany’s defamation and “insult” laws—expanded in 2021 to cover offenses against politicians—to target ordinary citizens for comments posted on social media. Among the complaints were remarks calling Merz a “little Nazi” or a “filthy drunk,” both of which triggered full criminal investigations and police home searches.
A Coordinated Legal Offensive
The investigative materials reviewed by Welt include criminal filings, court records, and correspondence from the law firm Brockmeier, Faulhaber, Rudolph, which represented Merz in the actions. His parliamentary office confirmed that he had pursued such cases “during the previous legislative period,” stating that any fines or damages were donated “to social causes in the Hochsauerland district.”
However, the scale of the prosecutions stunned even members of Merz’s own CDU/CSU bloc. “After the house search at the home of the guy who called Habeck a ‘moron,’ we found it unacceptable that Merz would do something like that,” one party figure told Welt, warning that the tactic “will surely backfire on us.”
Central to Merz’s legal operation was a private agency called So Done, which scoured the internet for “insults” against politicians, filed criminal complaints, and pursued civil claims—keeping half of any awarded damages. Although it marketed itself as a platform against “online hate,” it functioned largely as a paid enforcement arm for prominent officials, including NRW Minister-President Hendrik Wüst, former Economics Minister Robert Habeck, and Bundestag President Julia Klöckner. Merz has reportedly since severed ties with the agency.
Police Raids and Judicial Overreach
The case files show how aggressively authorities responded. In one instance, police raided the home of a man who had referred to Merz as a “filthy drunk.” A court later ruled the search unlawful. Another case involved a disabled woman in a wheelchair who lived on public assistance. After she posted “little Nazi” on social media, police confiscated her phone—her only line of contact with caregivers and pharmacies—a move her lawyer condemned as “disproportionate and dangerous.”
Defense attorney Konstantin Grubwinkler, representing the “filthy drunk” defendant, said the issue transcends Merz’s personal complaints. “The problem is the complete overreaction of the justice system,” he warned. “If police searches are considered proportionate in such cases, the principle of proportionality effectively ceases to exist.”
A similar case unfolded in 2023 when a tweet mocking Merz—“Assholes are people whose verbal output is indistinguishable from their anal output. #Merz #Merzbohren”—was investigated by Hessen gegen Hetze, a government project run by the Hessian Interior Ministry. Although Merz had not filed a complaint, the tweet was flagged as “politically motivated extremism” and escalated to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). One internal note obtained by Welt instructed investigators to “prioritize” the year-old post “in time for the federal elections.”
Legal Fallout and Political Backlash
Attorney Jannik Rienhoff said he has represented about 10 individuals across 30 similar cases, with only one resulting in a fine. “It shouldn’t be the job of the BKA to scour the internet for potential insults that politicians aren’t even aware of,” he said.
A federal government spokesperson insisted that Merz “did not file a complaint in any” of the 170 cases police linked to him, but a February 2025 document reviewed by Welt shows that he personally signed at least one complaint ahead of the election.
The Merz cases are part of a growing pattern since Section 188 of Germany’s Criminal Code was amended in 2021 to permit prosecutions for political insults even without a direct complaint from the target. Former Economics Minister Robert Habeck is believed to have filed roughly 800 complaints under the same law. In June, German police launched coordinated dawn raids against 170 people accused of “insulting politicians” or spreading online “hate and incitement.” NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul praised the crackdown, declaring: “Digital arsonists must not be able to hide behind their cell phones or computers.”
From Online Insults to Jail Sentences
In one of the most severe cases, a civil engineer in Lower Saxony served a 30-day prison term after mishandling an appeal against a €3,000 fine for calling Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Minister-President Manuela Schwesig a “storyteller” who “talks stupid stuff.” After failing to appear for his sentence, police arrested him at work. He was dismissed from his job upon release.
International Reaction
The escalating criminalization of speech has drawn global attention. In February, CBS’s 60 Minutes aired footage of German police raids against alleged online offenders. Elon Musk responded, “Thank the Lord that America has freedom of speech.” U.S. Vice President JD Vance condemned Europe’s approach as “Orwellian,” warning that Germany’s aggressive enforcement of speech laws “risks straining transatlantic relations.”
The revelations surrounding Merz’s extensive legal campaign have sparked a broader debate over Germany’s balance between protecting dignity and preserving dissent—a question that now sits at the intersection of politics, policing, and the principle of free expression.
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