Germany

While asylum applications fell, Germany continues to grapple with the impact of the large numbers of asylum seekers and other migrants who arrived between 2015 and 2017. Attacks on asylum-seeker accommodation and refugees and asylum-seekers continued, but at a lower rate than previous years. Germany’s federal parliament has approved measures that raise concerns about privacy rights and free expression online, including a law requiring social media companies to take down poorly defined “illegal content” or face large fines. New powers allow electronic tagging and movement restrictions for people deemed a risk to national security, but who have not yet committed any crime.