*_DISCUSSION ROUND_* *30. MARCH // 7:30 PM // MOUSONTURM (STUDIO 1)* Anyone who thought that misanthropic speeches, lies, and antidemocratic behaviour is a problem of far-away dictatorships has been put right at least since the Brexit vote or the presidential elections in the US. Populism and the will to divide have arrived in the midst of Western societies and their political systems. But anyone who allows the boundaries of the liberal order of values and the state of law to be transgressed against individuals is jeopardising freedom as a whole. The situation is exacerbated not only in countries where journalists are persecuted by the state and the right to freedom of expression is becoming increasingly restricted. Especially where a critical and many-voiced reporting is (still) possible, a sophisticatedly reasoning media and politicians lose credibility in broad sections of the population. They are replaced by anger-driven spin-doctors whose emotionally propounded torrents of hatred and falsehoods spread free of rules in the social media in a self-assertive manner. They no longer draw their claim to truth from the force of the argument but from the consent of those who gather behind their backs. How dangerous are populism and hate-speech for Western democracies? How much destructive spin must a free society have to endure? What are the boundaries that democracy has to set? How can the followers of demagogic seducers be won back for pluralism and freedom? What are the responsibilities of politics and the media? *DISCUSSANTS:* * *PAULINA FRÖHLICH*, activist of the campaign _Kleiner Fünf_ * *PROF. BASCHA MIKA*, chief editor of the _Frankfurt Rundschau_ * *PROF. DR. CHRISTOPH MENKE*, philosopher and principal investigator of the Cluster of Excellence "Normative Orders" * *DR. FABIAN STEINHAUER*, law and media scientist _Goethe University Frankfurt/Main_ *HOST:* *DR. EBERHARD NEMBACH*, Head of the Political Desk, _hr-info_