The broadcaster has to pay a fine for advertising “lateral thinkers”

reThe State Communication Agency (LfK) in Baden-Württemberg has imposed a fine of 65,000 euros on the regional broadcaster “L-TV” because the broadcaster apparently broadcast demonstrations of the “lateral thinking 711” initiative in August against payment and, therefore, extensively for the Federal government critics of pandemic policy are said to have publicized. In support of this, the LfK stated that according to the State Media Law and the State Broadcasting Treaty, it was not allowed to provide social groups with advertising space to present their political positions. This suspicion has now been confirmed after a “thorough examination of the facts.”

The national political spokesman for the green parliamentary group, Hans-Ulrich Sckerl, expressed his satisfaction with the LfK decision: “The decision should also be a warning. Anyone who puts money in his pocket in exchange for manipulating public perception will be severely punished. Freedom of expression is a valuable asset in our democracy ”. However, anyone who invokes free speech must accept the rules of the game, Sckerl said. “It’s a shame demagogues like Michael Ballweg are trying to illegally buy airtime.” He is running for mayoral elections in Stuttgart on November 8.

The CDU parliamentary group’s media policy spokesman, Raimund Haser, also welcomed LfK’s decision: “The punishment hurts, and rightly so. Because the station is not a sinister channel of backbencher in Darknet, but a station with a license that even benefits from the public subsidies ”. With the decision, media supervisors had set the bar very high for future cases. Apparently, the state institute also wanted to show that they were taking the task seriously.

The methods of the “lateral thinkers” are increasingly brutal

The Winnenden-based television station in the Rems-Murr district wants to accept the decision. The station announced this in a short message on Tuesday. Managing Director Manfred Kusterer said he “basically does not comment on internal procedures” in public. The station regularly reports on the development of the corona pandemic in various regions of Baden-Württemberg; Mayors and politicians who support pandemic politics often have a say.

Meanwhile, the methods of the so-called lateral thinkers are becoming more brutal. At a school in Stockach in southern Baden-Württemberg and in Gernsheim in Hesse, they tried to prevent students from wearing mouth and nose protection and corona tests. In Stockach, the “lateral thinkers” had registered a spontaneous demonstration last Saturday. Five protesters tried to prevent students from conducting a corona test at a mobile testing station. At Gernsheim primary school, activists wanted to distribute leaflets in mid-September in which the mask requirement was described as “foolish and dangerous”. Teachers and students are said to have prevented them.

Ballweg refused on Friday in a panel discussion on the election of the mayor of Stuttgart to observe the concept of hygiene and wear protection for the mouth and nose. He was unable to produce a medical certificate. Nor did he agree to enter the room just to give a speech. Therefore, after a short discussion with the organizer, he had to leave the event. As a result, the entrepreneur feels at a disadvantage. Shortly after the live broadcast began, he is said to have asked his followers through a Telegram group to discuss his absence.