On the other hand, there are numerous cases where Facebook has been compelled by German courts to restore posts they have deleted under their content policy to protect the user's free speech rights. Something like that is unthinkable in the US.
Calling her a Nazi or fascist would have been fine as that's understood as an expression of opinion, calling her a swine is clearly an insult and insulting someone is a crime under civil law (not sure how this translates to the US but it's not something the police will arrest you for but something the insulted party can take you to court over).
There's a common misconception in Germany that there is a law about "Beamtenbeleidigung" (insult of a public official) but the truth is that public officials have no special protection in that regard per se, it's just usually easier for them to sue people (esp. when you insult a police officer as they're literally the police). There are some caveats when insulting government officials, especially foreign government officials, but insulting a Nazi politician on Facebook is not any different from insulting a celebrity on Facebook.
The problem with social media is that it can be difficult to find out who to sue and compelling a foreign company to release the likely incomplete information they have on a user in an attempt to identify them isn't great. I'm not saying the law in question (NetzDG, requiring social media companies to block such content in Germany) is a good solution to this problem but it's certainly not the worst.
If anything, the problem with NetzDG is that it allows users who are able to avoid revealing their identity unambiguously to engage in Holocaust denialism or Volksverhetzung[0] and have their posts still be visible with a proxy if blocked (allowing Nazi groups to organize and operate hidden in plain sight) or when the content is deleted for those crimes to just be swept under the rug and make it harder to report to the actual authorities rather than the social media company. Social media companies like Twitter have also made it nearly impossible to report ToS violations in Germany as the report button immediately funnels you into NetzDG technicalities users aren't meant to understand like which specific law you believe the offending post violates.
I say this as an Austrian... the fact that Nazi ideology and symbols are forbidden in our country is a godsend. We have a small but persistent problem with militant far-right Nazi sympathisers, and the "Verbotsgesetz" is an invaluable tool in dealing with them.
The law is extremely clear, nobody breaks it accidentally, and it makes sure that dangerous extremists are taken seriously by the police.
A couple of times a year the police discovers illegal weapon and ammo stashes when investigating Neonazis. These guys are dangerous, and pretending it's just about "free speech" is stupid.
germanier|4 years ago
hnbad|4 years ago
There's a common misconception in Germany that there is a law about "Beamtenbeleidigung" (insult of a public official) but the truth is that public officials have no special protection in that regard per se, it's just usually easier for them to sue people (esp. when you insult a police officer as they're literally the police). There are some caveats when insulting government officials, especially foreign government officials, but insulting a Nazi politician on Facebook is not any different from insulting a celebrity on Facebook.
The problem with social media is that it can be difficult to find out who to sue and compelling a foreign company to release the likely incomplete information they have on a user in an attempt to identify them isn't great. I'm not saying the law in question (NetzDG, requiring social media companies to block such content in Germany) is a good solution to this problem but it's certainly not the worst.
If anything, the problem with NetzDG is that it allows users who are able to avoid revealing their identity unambiguously to engage in Holocaust denialism or Volksverhetzung[0] and have their posts still be visible with a proxy if blocked (allowing Nazi groups to organize and operate hidden in plain sight) or when the content is deleted for those crimes to just be swept under the rug and make it harder to report to the actual authorities rather than the social media company. Social media companies like Twitter have also made it nearly impossible to report ToS violations in Germany as the report button immediately funnels you into NetzDG technicalities users aren't meant to understand like which specific law you believe the offending post violates.
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volksverhetzung
noduerme|4 years ago
[deleted]
newaccount74|4 years ago
The law is extremely clear, nobody breaks it accidentally, and it makes sure that dangerous extremists are taken seriously by the police.
A couple of times a year the police discovers illegal weapon and ammo stashes when investigating Neonazis. These guys are dangerous, and pretending it's just about "free speech" is stupid.
vadfa|4 years ago
>the situation in America where everyone is a fucking edgelord in their spare time
So don't read them, as easy as that.