The Infinite Brief

German police produced a warrant to investigate the privacy activist group RiseUp after a left-wing blog called “Krawalltouristen” (ruckus tourists) used their anonymous email and VPN services to organize a protest of the far-right AfD party.

However, police ultimately raided a separate organization called Zwiebelfreunde under the auspices of a ‘tenuous’ financial link to RiseUp: a pretty vast overreach that enabled them to seize documentation from a range of internet privacy projects.

Zwiebelfreunde also handle European donations to TorServers.net, and a blog post on the TorServers website confirmed all their documentation relating to European donations was seized.

Under the guise of a simplistic warrant relating to a blog and its email provider, the German police have now infiltrated a large network of privacy activists. Not simply staff and directors, but well-wishers and supporters who donated to a cause they believe in.