According to Klaus, groups of activists on social media are targeting people that advance different and inconvenient views. In response, he is preparing a draft law that would make it more difficult for the networks to block users for their posts.
Just hours before the ban, he said in a debate that everybody should have a right to speak openly despite controversies, and there shouldn’t be any authority defining what is progressive and what is not.
Klaus believes it may come as a reaction to his Chemnitz post because the author of a picture he shared has also been banned. However, it is more likely a reaction to the draft law and a recent television appearance. It is easy to find a stick to beat a dog, said Klaus.
Klaus won’t be seeking any compensation, doubting that there is any real way to mount a proper defense against this. Voices are being systematically ostracized from the public space by the state or private companies. But the companies are under the state’s pressure, so it is usually not the network’s decision to ban someone. For example, according to this source, Angela Merkel has negotiated with social media companies several times.
