Defamation and attempts to divide the farmer protest movement
by Marita Brune-Koch
(16 February 2024) For almost two months now, farmers have been protesting on Germany’s streets against the fact that it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to make ends meet with their farms. In the beginning, the major protests were very prominent in the media. Suddenly they disappeared – not the protests, which continued, but the reports in the media. They were replaced by an omnipresent coverage of the demonstrations “against far-right”. This is quite contrary to the fact that farmers from many European countries are united in their protest: reports are reaching us from the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Italy, and Poland, but in the public media and the mainstream press we hear and read virtually nothing about it. Obviously, this tactic is not enough; the protests still seem too dangerous for those in power. So, they are being helped along with a tried and tested means: with the label “right-wing” the farmers are now to be divided and silenced.