Germany bans local Salafist Muslim group with large internet reach

Authorities in Germany have moved to ban a Muslim association based in the central city of Braunschweig, accusing the group of spreading extremist views.

Police also launched several raids aimed at the Braunschweig-based German-Speaking Muslim Association (DMG) on Wednesday morning, which sources told dpa also included searches of two apartments in Berlin.

The Interior Ministry in the state of Lower Saxony, which includes Braunschweig, moved to prohibit the DMG, claiming it conflicts with Germany's constitutional democratic order.

"We do not tolerate associations in which supposed non-believers, women and Jews, as well as our social order as a whole, are regularly devalued and followers called upon to fight them," said Lower Saxony's interior minister, Daniela Behrens. "The ban on the DMG is a hard blow against the Salafist scene in Lower Saxony and beyond."

Behrens said that no arrests were made in the raids, but that assets belonging to the DMG were confiscated.

A report from Lower Saxony's domestic intelligence agency in June 2023 alleged that the Braunschweig-based DMG had become a nationwide meeting point for Salafist preachers, and had significantly expanded its online presence with content on YouTube, TikTok, Spotify and Telegram.

"Every week, the appearances of these nationally known Salafist preachers are also made accessible to a large number of viewers via the various online channels of the DMG Braunschweig," the state's Interior Ministry said in a statement at the time.

According to the ministry, the DMG Braunschweig's YouTube channel alone had around 70,000 subscribers as of May 2023.

"The risk of self-radicalization is and remains high, especially in light of the digital possibilities for information and communication," the ministry said at the time.

The group's website includes postings for numerous opportunities aimed at children and young people. These include Koran camps, children's camps, youth conferences and study circles.