A contribution by Werner Hoffmann
– Democracy of the center, because political extremes are tearing the country apart.-
In political Sunday speeches, leaders love to praise “digital sovereignty.”
But now, of all areas, in matters of internal security, they want to make themselves dependent on a U.S. corporation with shady connections?
There are certainly alternatives – such as software solutions from the EU that are bound by democratic principles and adhere to the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
But this debate appears to be completely ignored by the Bundesrat.
Who is Peter Thiel?
Peter Thiel is not a neutral tech entrepreneur.
He is an ideological power player with a clear goal: to replace democracy with a technocratic rule by elites.
Thiel is an outspoken opponent of democratic systems – and that’s not a polemic exaggeration, it’s a documented belief.
“I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.”
– Peter Thiel, 2009
He is an admitted admirer of Carl Schmitt, the Nazi legal theorist whose ideas have been embraced by the global New Right.
Thiel doesn’t see freedom as a collective good, but as the privilege of billionaires to rule society without restraint.
Thiel’s Political Agenda: A Web of Power
- 1998: Co-founded PayPal (with Elon Musk)
- 2004: First external investor in Facebook
- 2004: Co-founded Palantir, developed for CIA, NSA, and police agencies
- 2009: Founded the Thiel Fellowship, promoting elite, anti-academic tech thinking
- 2012: Published Zero to One, a manifesto against equality and regulation
- 2016: Publicly supported Donald Trump, gained influence in the transition team
- 2018: Funded the Claremont Institute, a New Right think tank
- 2020: Invested in Prospera, an authoritarian private city in Honduras
- 2021: Funded JD Vance (now Senator, possible Trump VP) with $15 million
- 2024: Debate over Palantir’s expansion into German police systems
The Bundesrat Must Act
Any police force that integrates Palantir into its operations makes itself dependent on an enemy of democracy — technologically, politically, and strategically.
In times of growing geopolitical instability, it is dangerously naïve to place the core of national security infrastructure in the hands of a billionaire who sympathizes with authoritarian actors like Trump, Musk, and the New Right.
The German government and the Bundesrat must urgently reconsider this decision.
We need an open and democratic debate about digital sovereignty, data protection, foreign dependencies, and viable alternatives — before choices are made that cannot be undone.
Bottom line:
Those who buy Palantir don’t just pay with money — they pay with freedom and sovereignty.
