'Atlas of Civil Society' downgrades Germany

"The great majority of people in the world cannot raise their hand and speak freely," said Dagmar Pruin, president of Brot für die Welt (Bread of the World), at the presentation of the organization's annual report on the state of civil society and democracy on Monday.

"Even in Germany, some narratives are being purposely buried," she added, giving the example of how "criticism of right-wing extremism is discredited as ideological."

The report, the Atlas of Civil Society, is published annually by Brot für die Welt — an organization supported by Protestant churches in Germany that focuses on combating global hunger and promoting sustainable development in the Global South — in cooperation with partner organizations. This year's report focuses in particular on disinformation as a global phenomenon.

Germany now ranked as having 'limited' openness

According to this year's Atlas of Civil Society, which examines worldwide trends related to NGOs, protest movements, and media freedom, only 3.4% of the world's population lives in truly open societies, where 30.7% lived in completely closed, authoritarian circumstances.

"This year, there has been a 7% increase on societies categorized as having 'limited' openness," said Brot für die Welt human rights expert Silke Pfeiffer. "This includes many countries that from the global north, that purport to be democratic, such as the US, France, Italy and yes, Germany."

According to the report, a country has a "limited" ranking if NGOs and activists are heavily surveilled, demonstrations are at times violently repressed, and dissent is censored.

Pfeiffer pointed to increased police brutality and arrests at protests in Germany as a major factor to its placement in the rankings. This mostly affected solidarity demonstrations for civilians in Gaza and climate protests, but also reflected rising incidents of discrimination such as queerphobia, sexism, racism, and antisemitism across the country.

Disinformation rampant as AI booms

This year's report in particular highlighted the global rise in disinformation, noting its growth in the age of artificial intelligence and from which Germany was far from immune. Citing the Ernst and Young AI Sentiment Index, which interviewed 15,000 people of all ages in 15 countries, including Germany, Brot für die Welt found that 75% of people worried about getting bad information from AI but only about a third investigated further.

The report identified several key topics targeted by AI-el disinformation campaigns, including immigration — in particular when connected to crime rates — the LGBT+ community, and climate change.

Why are LGBTQ+ hate crimes surging in Germany?

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In 2021, 23% of Germans thought that climate change was due to natural cycles and not related to human activity. Last year, that number climbed to 33%. Across the entire European Union, that amount has gone from 25% five years ago to 35% in 2025.

Brot für die Welt called on the EU to strengthen protections for activists and civil society groups across the bloc, as well as increased enforcement of the EU Digital Services Act. Ostensibly the law holds firms like Meta and Google accountable for disinformation and hate speech on their platforms, but legal loopholes and vague language have allowed tech giants to exercise minimum effort in this regard.

Edited by: Rob Turner