On Saturday, November 15th, the "Osnabrück for All" alliance organized a
demonstration under the motto "Cities for those who live there." The
demonstration was directed against the displacement and surveillance
policies of the city of Osnabrück in and around Johannisstraße. We gave
the following speech there:
Dear friends, I stand here as a representative of the Libertarian
Communists of Osnabrück.
In this speech, we would like to focus primarily on the planned reform
of the Lower Saxony Police and Public Order Act.
Last August, the Lower Saxony State Chancellery published the amendments
planned by the state cabinet. Among other things, it states:
"In the future, intelligent video surveillance could automatically
detect certain dangerous situations in real time in video recordings
based on specific behavioral or object patterns, indicating the
commission of crimes."
This has serious consequences, which we would like to draw your
attention to below.
"Intelligent video surveillance" simply means equipping surveillance
cameras with so-called "artificial intelligence." The technology for
this is already installed here on Johannisstrasse. In this context, the
planning for "real-time biometric remote identification systems" should
be mentioned. These systems can identify individuals based on biometric
data, i.e., facial recognition and other characteristics.
The use of these systems is (quote) "only permitted under particularly
strict conditions according to the EU AI Regulation."
A look at the regulation reveals that this rule is, of course, not
really "strict." Strictly speaking, the use of these systems is
prohibited unless it is for the prosecution of crimes, such as illegal
drug trafficking.
The aforementioned "certain behavioral and object patterns," which are
to be recorded and categorized using AI, ultimately turn us all into
surveillance objects stored in massive databases.
Behavior deviating from the norm is flagged as suspicious and
criminalized. What is recognized as such is determined by the AI's
training and is beyond any democratic control.
It's not an actually prohibited act that is detected, but a harmless
gesture to which a statistical correlation with the commission of a
crime is attributed-be it reaching into a jacket pocket or handing over
euro banknotes.
This will initially affect primarily those who are already marginalized:
people living on the streets, people who are prohibited from legal paid
employment.
In principle, this means that people affected by poverty and lack of
prospects will once again be sanctioned with state repression. Very few
people sell drugs because they enjoy it; they sell them because without
the money they earn, they would starve or end up on the streets.
What we really need are low-threshold support services and contact
points for precisely these people.
However, capitalism necessarily breeds poverty and the cycle of poverty,
criminalization, and further marginalization. Further impoverishment and
attacks by the ruling class against our working and living conditions
are steadily increasing. Anyone who wants to undermine this situation
cannot avoid being anti-capitalist. With the growing threat of war and
economic and ecological crises, the need for resistance is also increasing.
To prevent this resistance, states worldwide are expanding their control
capabilities with surveillance technology and ever-expanding police
powers and repressive measures. Palantier, a company co-founded by the
American far-right extremist Peter Thiel, is doing well in this area.
More and more German states are purchasing its population control
software for the police, software criticized by data protection advocates.
We are supposed to be protected from terrorism and people who "don't fit
in with the cityscape." But once the technology is in place, other
groups and behaviors can very quickly be targeted. What if facial
recognition is used tomorrow, for example, to identify and arrest
conscientious objectors or to enforce harsher repression against
anti-fascists? The coronavirus pandemic has shown how quickly
fundamental rights we take for granted can be suspended: from border
closures, even for EU citizens, to curfews and behavioral restrictions.
And even after the pandemic, the militarization and authoritarianization
of society in Germany is currently breathtaking.
That's why we need to be thinking about this not only here on
Johannisstrasse. The use of drones equipped with these very surveillance
systems is intended to scan and monitor thousands of people at large
events - be it the Christmas market, the May Week festival, or at the
Bremer Brücke stadium.
So we ask you all: Do you really feel safer when you're constantly being
watched, recorded, and stored by cameras?
George Orwell's dystopian vision of total surveillance may seem
exaggerated. It shows where things can lead when, step by step, supposed
innovations and vague laws establish and normalize ever-increasing
surveillance.
We will not accept this silently. Let's join forces to resist
surveillance technology and the reform of the police law, which
ultimately does us more harm than it can actually guarantee.
Organize yourselves, show solidarity, and fight with us for an Osnabrück
where we ALL have the opportunity to feel safe and secure.
OSNABRÜCK FOR ALL!
https://likos.noblogs.org/2025/11/16/niedersaechsisches-polizeigesetz-und-gentrifizierung-redebeitrag/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
demonstration under the motto "Cities for those who live there." The
demonstration was directed against the displacement and surveillance
policies of the city of Osnabrück in and around Johannisstraße. We gave
the following speech there:
Dear friends, I stand here as a representative of the Libertarian
Communists of Osnabrück.
In this speech, we would like to focus primarily on the planned reform
of the Lower Saxony Police and Public Order Act.
Last August, the Lower Saxony State Chancellery published the amendments
planned by the state cabinet. Among other things, it states:
"In the future, intelligent video surveillance could automatically
detect certain dangerous situations in real time in video recordings
based on specific behavioral or object patterns, indicating the
commission of crimes."
This has serious consequences, which we would like to draw your
attention to below.
"Intelligent video surveillance" simply means equipping surveillance
cameras with so-called "artificial intelligence." The technology for
this is already installed here on Johannisstrasse. In this context, the
planning for "real-time biometric remote identification systems" should
be mentioned. These systems can identify individuals based on biometric
data, i.e., facial recognition and other characteristics.
The use of these systems is (quote) "only permitted under particularly
strict conditions according to the EU AI Regulation."
A look at the regulation reveals that this rule is, of course, not
really "strict." Strictly speaking, the use of these systems is
prohibited unless it is for the prosecution of crimes, such as illegal
drug trafficking.
The aforementioned "certain behavioral and object patterns," which are
to be recorded and categorized using AI, ultimately turn us all into
surveillance objects stored in massive databases.
Behavior deviating from the norm is flagged as suspicious and
criminalized. What is recognized as such is determined by the AI's
training and is beyond any democratic control.
It's not an actually prohibited act that is detected, but a harmless
gesture to which a statistical correlation with the commission of a
crime is attributed-be it reaching into a jacket pocket or handing over
euro banknotes.
This will initially affect primarily those who are already marginalized:
people living on the streets, people who are prohibited from legal paid
employment.
In principle, this means that people affected by poverty and lack of
prospects will once again be sanctioned with state repression. Very few
people sell drugs because they enjoy it; they sell them because without
the money they earn, they would starve or end up on the streets.
What we really need are low-threshold support services and contact
points for precisely these people.
However, capitalism necessarily breeds poverty and the cycle of poverty,
criminalization, and further marginalization. Further impoverishment and
attacks by the ruling class against our working and living conditions
are steadily increasing. Anyone who wants to undermine this situation
cannot avoid being anti-capitalist. With the growing threat of war and
economic and ecological crises, the need for resistance is also increasing.
To prevent this resistance, states worldwide are expanding their control
capabilities with surveillance technology and ever-expanding police
powers and repressive measures. Palantier, a company co-founded by the
American far-right extremist Peter Thiel, is doing well in this area.
More and more German states are purchasing its population control
software for the police, software criticized by data protection advocates.
We are supposed to be protected from terrorism and people who "don't fit
in with the cityscape." But once the technology is in place, other
groups and behaviors can very quickly be targeted. What if facial
recognition is used tomorrow, for example, to identify and arrest
conscientious objectors or to enforce harsher repression against
anti-fascists? The coronavirus pandemic has shown how quickly
fundamental rights we take for granted can be suspended: from border
closures, even for EU citizens, to curfews and behavioral restrictions.
And even after the pandemic, the militarization and authoritarianization
of society in Germany is currently breathtaking.
That's why we need to be thinking about this not only here on
Johannisstrasse. The use of drones equipped with these very surveillance
systems is intended to scan and monitor thousands of people at large
events - be it the Christmas market, the May Week festival, or at the
Bremer Brücke stadium.
So we ask you all: Do you really feel safer when you're constantly being
watched, recorded, and stored by cameras?
George Orwell's dystopian vision of total surveillance may seem
exaggerated. It shows where things can lead when, step by step, supposed
innovations and vague laws establish and normalize ever-increasing
surveillance.
We will not accept this silently. Let's join forces to resist
surveillance technology and the reform of the police law, which
ultimately does us more harm than it can actually guarantee.
Organize yourselves, show solidarity, and fight with us for an Osnabrück
where we ALL have the opportunity to feel safe and secure.
OSNABRÜCK FOR ALL!
https://likos.noblogs.org/2025/11/16/niedersaechsisches-polizeigesetz-und-gentrifizierung-redebeitrag/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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