Public officials must also comply with the neutrality and objectivity requirement when they comment on internal security and attacks on the free democratic basic order and criticise the AfD. The Oldenburg Administrative Court has now clarified this in a ruling

(Ref.: 1 A 2586/23 of 17 November 2025).

In a newspaper interview published in August 2023, the former Oldenburg police chief said that the AfD was distorting the truth and spreading lies in order to stir up fears among the population. In this way, it manipulates people's subjective sense of security. The AfD state association of Lower Saxony saw this as a violation of the neutrality requirement and took legal action - with success.

In the court's opinion, the police commissioner was in principle authorised as a public official to make public statements „within the scope of his duties, both on internal security and the investigative activities of the police as well as on attacks on the free democratic basic order“. According to the court, however, he had not complied with the limits of the neutrality and objectivity requirement with his statements. The police are now obliged to disclose that the statements made in relation to the AfD regional organisation in Lower Saxony were unlawful.