Commentary:
Although it presents itself as a neutral arbiter of the truth (funded by compulsory fees, it must be added) Bavaria's "Faktencheck" operation is typical of the disinformation industry at its most rigidly dogmatic. One entry for instance, claims that the concept of the "Deep State"– of an elite controlling politics manipulating democratic processes – is simply in itself a "myth". Putting aside the by now famous social scientific research on the oligarchical character of so-called democratic institutions today in the West that are now largely immune to popular influence, Faktencheck's article notably claims that the concept of the Deep State undermines "state institutions," and is spread for this purpose: it "promotes a hostile worldview" and so therefore cannot be factual. Such reasoning is a tip of the hand; for whether it is true or not that there are security services or other interests carrying out their own agendas independent of the voting public – certainly that would not be unheard of historically – the very idea that this could be the case, and that it would undermine the state, is grounds enough to repress the idea, by Faktencheck's standard. In other words, this is not only a dubious or false argument, but also an expression imposing a priori standards of what should be on what may prevail in society. Wishful thinking, rather than pursuit of the truth, drives it. With such tacit concessions, Faktencheck reveals it will go to great lengths to defend the status quo and the "state institutions" from their critics – as well as the voters.