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Appeal for Donations to Save Bürgerstimme and Democracy! Eric Stehr (The Left) Against Freedom of the Press, Satire, and Art

As previously reported, Eric Stehr (The Left) had Bürgerstimme and ultimately me personally served with a cease-and-desist letter through a lawyer, involving enormous costs.

Eric Stehr (The Left) is demanding that the publication of images in which he is recognizable be prohibited. He is also objecting to images in which he is recognizable being created or altered by AI in a satirical and artistic manner. In the past, illustrators and graphic designers did this – today, artificial intelligence does.

Eric Stehr (The Left) is seeking to ensure that images in which he is recognizable must first be approved by him before they can be published.

This position is based on a ruling from 1966. In that case, a woman had sued because a photograph of her standing next to a politician had been published in the magazine “Stern.” She argued that she was neither a public figure nor a person of contemporary historical significance and therefore had a right to control the use of her own image.

With regard to the proceedings that Eric Stehr (The Left), through his Düsseldorf lawyer Prigge, has now brought before the Regional Court of Halle for interim legal protection, the situation is certainly likely to be different. Eric Stehr (The Left) has been a public figure for many years and has also been active on social media. During the recent state election in Saxony-Anhalt, his face was plastered all over his electoral district. Thanks to his number 2 position on the party list, he succeeded in entering the state parliament.

His argument that he too is neither a public figure nor a person of contemporary historical significance therefore appears very weak.

Nevertheless, these days you never know how judges will position themselves or whether they might actually rule in favor of Eric Stehr.

That is why this fight must be fought. I urgently need your financial support.

Support me and Bürgerstimme in this legal dispute with voluntary contributions (donations):
via PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/evovi/12

or by bank transfer
IBAN: IE55SUMU99036510275719
BIC: SUMUIE22XXX
Account holder: Michael Thurm

The financial risk at this stage is approximately 6,500 euros. If full proceedings have to be initiated, the financial risk for those proceedings would be another 6,500 euros. In total, this would result in approximately 13,000 euros in legal costs.

If I do not fight this battle, nothing less than freedom of the press, freedom of art, freedom of satire, and democracy itself would be at stake.

Suppose the Regional Court rules in favor of Eric Stehr (The Left). Then every member of the state parliament and every politician at the regional level could demand, before images in which they are recognizable are published, that those images first be approved by the politicians concerned. Critical reporting in particular would be delayed as a result, because the politicians concerned could take their time granting approval or could simply refuse to grant it.

Every lawyer issuing cease-and-desist letters, every court, would refer to this ruling and simply adopt it as precedent.

It is also conceivable that this could be extended to editorial articles – meaning that these too would have to be approved in advance by the politicians concerned. That would be the end of freedom of the press, the end of the Fourth Estate, whose role is to critically scrutinize those in power.

Independent, critical media such as Bürgerstimme would then have no chance, because the financial risk alone posed by such proceedings would be unsustainable. Every journalist would constantly have one foot in the financial trap.

Video recordings of city council, district council, and, in the future, state parliament sessions would be de facto impossible, since making people who do not want to show their faces unrecognizable (pixelating them) would require an effort completely disproportionate to the circumstances.

Politics would then become a black box. Politics would become even less transparent. Politics would become even more of a backroom affair.

The press would limit itself to sanitized articles and favorable press releases from politicians and would become meaningless. But whatever would apply to freedom of the press would also apply to freedom of expression. Critical posts on social media would then become a thing of the past.

Comments on Facebook make it clear that there are quite a few people out there who welcome precisely these conditions and are eagerly awaiting the demise of Bürgerstimme.

Such a Ruling and the Fear of the AfD

Across the country, people are being warned that the AfD wants to abolish democracy. If Eric Stehr (The Left) were to succeed with his application, and also prevail in full proceedings, AfD politicians could of course also invoke this de facto landmark ruling and insist on being unrecognizable as well, insofar as they were to behave in the future in the way currently attributed to them. Imagine the AfD holding a clear absolute majority.

All those who would then cry out that this was undemocratic and non-transparent and amounted to the abolition of democracy could be confronted by AfD politicians with the argument that they were merely relying on this landmark ruling, which had been obtained by a member of the Left and therefore had to be regarded and applied as established law. In other words, that the abolition or erosion of democracy had been initiated by the left. And, of course, those on the Left would then have to live with the consequences.

Anyone who wants to prevent such conditions together with me (regardless of political direction) is urgently asked to support me so that I can win this legal battle. This is only possible if I have the financial backing necessary to conduct these proceedings. Because it is obvious that in this case Eric Stehr (The Left) is trying to put pressure on me through the high costs and financial risk, so that I will give in in order to limit my own financial damage.

For the defense against this attack from the political left, for the rescue of democracy – or what is left of it – I therefore need financial support. Every euro helps protect me and Bürgerstimme, but also the many other independent media outlets and freelance journalists, against such attacks in principle.

Politicians Are Our Employees

Unfortunately, however, there are more and more politicians – apparently including Eric Stehr (The Left) – who seem to believe that they stand above the citizens, above the sovereign, and are entitled to special rights, while at the same time influencing legislation and thereby determining the rights of citizens.

More and more of these employees of ours, the sovereign, are displaying airs as though they were rulers and somehow better than everyone else.

In this context, I am reminded of quotes such as: “Nip it in the bud!” and “Never again is now!” Except that this attack on democracy and freedom of the press is not coming from the right or from so-called right-wing extremists, but from the left. From someone who constantly talks about diversity, tolerance, democracy, etc., while his actions demonstrate the exact opposite.

If Eric Stehr (The Left) had any integrity, if democracy, freedom of the press, diversity, tolerance, etc. were genuinely important to him, he would withdraw his application from the court. If the members of the Left in his party and his circle had any integrity, they would put pressure on Eric Stehr accordingly. So far, I have seen no indication of this.

Eric Stehr, of course, faces the same financial risk. The proceedings could also be decided against him. Apparently, however, he has sufficient supporters within his circle and his party who are willing to bear the financial risk and thereby take the same position as Stehr. Until recently, Eric Stehr was only a student. Or perhaps he assumes that, if he loses, his first parliamentary salary as a member of the state parliament will be used to pay for it. Ultimately, then, it would be taxpayers' money that he is using in the fight against democracy and freedom of the press.

This Fight Must Be Fought. Please Support Me. Now!

Many thanks in advance to all supporters.

Author: AI-Translation - Michael Thurm |

Jeden Tag neue Angebote bis zu 70 Prozent reduziert

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