German musicians Danger Dan and Igor Levit staged a guerrilla concert in Berlin and live-streamed it on YouTube after public broadcaster ZDF pulled their new "antifascist" song "Keine Angst" (No Fear) from a scheduled appearance on the satirical show Die Anstalt. ZDF said the track could be seen as inciting violence, given lyrics referencing outing far-right extremists and appearing to greet left-wing activists convicted of, or on trial for, attacks on the far right. The episode has ignited a fierce debate in Germany about free speech, broadcasting standards and how the country should confront rising far-right extremism.

At Tuesday's concert at Berlin's Columbia theatre, the duo used their platform to warn about the growing threat from Germany's far-right rather than dwell on the ban itself. ZDF director-general Norbert Himmler defended the decision, telling Süddeutsche Zeitung the song amounted to "a manual for violent left-wing resistance," but Die Anstalt's hosts, who attended the concert, called the move "cowardly," and eight members of ZDF's television council wrote an open letter accusing Himmler of cowardice and warning of a "chilling effect." The row comes as the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) leads national opinion polls and is seen by critics as a threat to German democracy, with the party edging closer to a potential path to power this year.