On April 18, 2025, Humboldt University in Berlin was the site of an antisemitic protest where five students were arrested after chanting hateful slogans and vandalizing university property during an anti-Israel demonstration. Critics have called for urgent institutional reforms to address the rising tide of hate on campus.

Humboldt University’s Student Parliament, initiated by the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE), passed a resolution condemning significant budget cuts proposed for science, health, and education, and linking these austerity measures to the militarisation of society. The resolution calls for solidarity among students, teachers, and workers to resist policies that fund a war-driven agenda.

Steffen Mau, a sociologist at Humboldt University, proposed the establishment of citizens' councils to bring together people of diverse views as a measure to counter the rise of populist and authoritarian ideologies. This advocacy aligns with efforts to strengthen democratic discourse and resist extremist narratives.

Humboldt University in Berlin faced significant criticism following the exhibition 'Russian War Crimes', which protesters and media outlets described as war propaganda that supports militaristic and right-wing narratives. University management, including President Julia von Blumenthal, defended the exhibition despite widespread student protests organized by IYSSE, raising concerns about the institution's alignment with authoritarian ideologies.

Humboldt University of Berlin accepted significant funding for its endowed Chair of 'History of Azerbaijan' from the authoritarian regime of Azerbaijan via the Berlin Embassy. This funding relationship, sustained over 11 years, raises concerns about academic independence, ethical standards, and political complicity with a dictatorship accused of human rights abuses.

The Azeri regime has financed a university chair at Humboldt University, with the appointed occupant propagating the regime’s perspective on Southern Caucasus political affairs. This funding arrangement raises concerns about academic independence and potential authoritarian influence in educational institutions.

Humboldt University's Academic Senate is set to decide on financing a think tank project titled 'Dictatorships as alternative orders,' initiated by right-wing extremist professor Jörg Baberowski. The move, which comes despite strong opposition from the student body and concerns over transparency and democratic accountability, is viewed as an endorsement of authoritarian ideas. In addition, subsequent administrative measures to restrict access to session documents and suppress dissent have raised alarms about the university's commitment to open debate.

On April 25, 2019, Humboldt University's administration, led by President Sabine Kunst, took measures that were widely condemned as authoritarian. The measures included filing a lawsuit against the student council and proposing amendments to restrict access to Academic Senate protocols, all in response to dissent over a proposal to use university funds to support Jörg Baberowski’s right-wing think tank project. These actions were seen as an attempt to suppress student opposition to a project viewed as legitimizing authoritarian political approaches.

In early April 2017, right-wing media outlets mobilized in defense of Professor Jörg Baberowski of Humboldt University following a court decision and widespread denunciations of his extremist, revisionist statements. Notably, the University's Presidium invoked the principle of 'free and independent scientific exchange' in its statement, a move that critics argue indirectly downplays the severity of his far‐right rhetoric and lends normalcy to authoritarian narratives.