Graffiti on a wooden fence in front of the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany reads "Freedom," on May 19, 2025.
(Berlin, July 8, 2026) – The German government should abandon its plans to gut Germany’s Freedom of Information Act, Human Rights Watch said today. The proposed amendments will threaten core human rights essential to transparency and public participation in a democracy based on the rule of law.
On July 2, 2026, the coalition committee of the German government, comprised of the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD), decided to significantly amend Germany’s Freedom of Information Act. The changes will severely restrict the ability of the public, including civil society and journalists, to obtain public records that relate to the actions of the government and authorities.
“The German government seems to perceive transparency and freedom of information as threats and an administrative burden instead of essential safeguards in a democracy,” said Almaz Teffera, senior Europe researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Restricting access to public records denies everyone basic information, makes it harder to hold the government and authorities to account, and risks increasing public distrust in their actions.”
The government seeks to adopt five key amendments to Germany’s Freedom of Information Act:
People will have to prove a “legitimate interest” to obtain official information, giving authorities broad discretion to reject information requests and deter people from seeking information of public concern. The government provided no further details on what would constitute a “legitimate interest.”Non-EU citizens who do not live in Germany would not be able to obtain public records, regardless of whether they may be able to prove a legitimate interest. Only individuals would have access to public re
