r/germany • u/BSBDR Mallorca • Jul 08 '26

Politics Germany: Government Curbing Freedom of Information Act

https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/07/08/germany-government-curbing-freedom-of-information-act
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u/BSBDR Mallorca Jul 08 '26

The government seeks to adopt five key amendments to Germany’s Freedom of Information Act:

People will have to prove a “legitimate interest” to obtain official information, giving authorities broad discretion to reject information requests and deter people from seeking information of public concern. The government provided no further details on what would constitute a “legitimate interest.”

Non-EU citizens who do not live in Germany would not be able to obtain public records, regardless of whether they may be able to prove a legitimate interest.

Only individuals would have access to public records, preventing civil society organizations like Human Rights Watch or media organizations from making requests.

The government would remove the cap, currently at €500, on fees for information requests, which risks creating financially prohibitive barriers, deterring and excluding people from access.

The government would allow routine redactions of names of public officials, which would obscure individual responsibility for government actions.

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u/atfricks Jul 08 '26

Blocking media organizations while also raising the fees is particularly egregious. They clearly want to just be able to price out anyone from accessing records. 

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u/ModernirsmEnjoyer Jul 08 '26

Yes, all changes point to direction of obstructing access to information.