German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has come under fire after comments he made regarding free speech garnered millions of views on social media.Speaking at an event on Tuesday, Merz said that he believes that certain restrictions on speech and expression are necessary to combat "false information.”"How do we deal with the fact that we are no longer able to adequately protect our population from what's happening?" the German chancellor stated to a crowd when discussing the problem of disinformation and fake news."And please, don't give me any of that 'free speech' nonsense. This has nothing to do with free speech anymore," the German chancellor continued.He also chastised what he called the "libertarian approach" to the topic, blaming commentary coming from "certain circles on the other side of the Atlantic" for imflaming the debate in Germany."A liberal society must still be able to adequately protect its citizens, including from misinformation, personal attacks, discrimination, and many other things that ultimately define our personal lives in freedom," he added..Merz faced backlash for his comments, including from the editor-in-chief of conservative news site NIUS, Julian Reichelt, who called the comments "dangerous" in a post on X."Against men like Merz, we have the fundamental right to freedom of expression as a right of defence. His view of the citizens is dangerous and borders on a case of suspicion hostile to the constitution," he wrote in response to the video on X..Other online commentators pointed to the video as an example of why Merz's party, the Christian Democratic Union, or CDU, has been bleeding support to the right-wing Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party.At the time of writing, the governing CDU currently trails the AfD by around eight to ten points in the polls, with comments like these from Merz likely leading to more and more German conservatives throwing their hat in with the AfD.In addition to his comments on free speech likely hindering the CDU in the polls, Merz's recent speech calling Germany a "country of immigration" amid growing discontent with the current system will also likely help to boost the surging AfD in the polls..It isn't just opinion polling showing the bleeding of the CDU, but a recent state election in Saxony-Anhalt where the party lost 25 seats and 20% of the popular vote compared to their result in the last election. In comparison, the AfD won the election and recorded a gain of 16 seats and an increase of 23% in the popular vote. Merz's current approval rating sits at a record low of 10% to 14%, but with the next German election not set to be held until 2029, he and his party will be hoping there still may be enough time to claw back the support they lost to the AfD.
