Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Germany’s Domestic Intelligence Ends Scientology Surveillance

The move signals a shift in scarce intelligence resources toward higher-risk threats.

Overview

  • The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution said it has ended its planned, nationwide monitoring of the Scientology Organization.
  • The agency cited lower federal relevance and rising workloads from tasks such as tracking the AfD, Russian sabotage, Chinese espionage, North Korean hacking, and terrorism.
  • Scientology will no longer appear as its own section in the annual security report, though targeted checks of individuals or units remain possible.
  • Several offices have watched Scientology since 1997, and Baden-Württemberg had already started winding down observation earlier this year.
  • The group has about 3,600 members in Germany, and recent viral speed-runs in its centers have drawn attention that the BfV does not treat as a federal security issue.