The German definition of freedom of speech
I learned long ago that compared to Europe and Canada and other countries I’d assumed had freedom of speech, only in the US is there a serious commitment to it. Of course, that commitment in the US is sometimes compromised, but it still is much greater than that of any country that comes to mind. Europe has long had hate speech laws, for example, and in Germany that situation been ramping up lately:
Police in Germany have launched a nationwide operation targeting suspected authors of online hate speech and incitement, according to information obtained by dpa.
More than 170 operations are planned, coordinated by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).
The suspects are accused of incitement to hatred and insulting politicians, among other things.
The investigations focus on far-right statements made online. Many cases also involve criminal insults against politicians, with fewer cases concerning extremist religious or far-left postings.
Insulting politicians seems to be a crime in Germany. It also appears that these laws are more often enforced against the right than the left.
From this past April, FIRE reports:
This month, David Bendels, editor-in-chief for the Alternative for Germany (AfD)-affiliated Deutschland Kurier, received a seven-month suspended sentence for “abuse, slander or defamation against persons in political life.”
The offense? Bendels had edited and posted a photo of Interior Minister Nancy Faeser so that a sign she held said, “I hate freedom of opinion.” … A Bavarian district court found Bendels guilty under a provision giving advanced protections to political figures against speech.
Dozens of police teams across Germany raided homes before dawn in a coordinated crackdown on a recent Tuesday. The state police weren’t looking for drugs or guns, they were looking for people suspected of posting hate speech online.
As prosecutors explain it, the German constitution protects free speech, but not hate speech. And here’s where it gets tricky: German law prohibits speech that could incite hatred or is deemed insulting. Perpetrators are sometimes surprised to learn that what they post online is illegal, according to Dr. Matthäus Fink, one of the state prosecutors tasked with policing Germany’s robust hate speech laws.
“They don’t think it was illegal. And they say, ‘No, that’s my free speech,'” Fink said. “And we say, ‘No, you have free speech as well, but it is also has its limits.'”
In other words, you are free to say nice things about people we like.
More:
Fink, and prosecutors Svenja Meininghaus and Frank-Michael Laue, explained that German law prohibits the spread of malicious gossip, violent threats and fake quotes. Reposting lies online can also be a crime.
And of course it’s they who get to determine what’s a lie or an insult worthy of prosecution:
The punishment for breaking hate speech laws can include jail time for repeat offenders. But in most cases, a judge levies a stiff fine and sometimes keeps the offender’s devices. …
It was a 2021 case involving Andy Grote, a local politician, that captured the country’s attention. Grote complained about a tweet that called him a “pimmel,” a German word for the male anatomy. His complaint triggered a police raid and accusations of excessive censorship by the government.
As prosecutors explained to “60 Minutes” correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, in Germany it’s OK to debate politics online, but it can be a crime to call anyone a pimmel, even a politician.
“Comments like ‘You’re son of a b—h,’ excuse me for using, but these words has nothing to do with a political discussions or a contribution to a discussion,” Fink said.
I won’t call Fink a pimmel, although he sounds like one.
You can bet that no Turks, Muslims or people from Africa would be harassed and arrested for any of the things Germans were arrested for.
Be VERY careful when traveling in these countries. Especially if you get more talkative when drinking.
This is what they’re doing in lieu of deporting illegal aliens and bogus ‘refugees’. The political class of Germany despises the German people.
While we’re at it, what sort of pornography is available in Germany?
This will lead to rebellion!
What can’t go on won’t go on, so one way or another, Western Europe’s leaders and supportive voters are ensuring that in the aftermath of “the troubled years that came before the deluge” they shall be swept away.
I won’t call Fink a pimmel, although he sounds like one.
But you can call him a Fink. Could you get arrested for calling him a Fink? 🙂
Fink means “finch” in German. I wonder how that word developed negative connotations in English.
Simulants are homosexuals with or servicing a heterosexual kink.
Bisexuals are a pure form of homosexuals who are the doppelgangers of the transgender spectrum.
Liberals in progressive sects need to lose their Pro-Choice religion and discover principles to guide their behavioral choices and solutions.
“…only in the US is there a serious commitment to it…”
Um, methinks this needs a bit a’ tweakin’…
“…only in the GOP-governed US is there a serious commitment to it…”
There. Fixed it…
(Not that the “correction” is entirely true either, mind you; but then everything is relative…so they say….)
Re: Fink.
If I’m not mistaken, “Fink” became a perjorative term in non-German-speaking Western countries because of its Jewish association.
I suspect it’s more fun and safer for the police to monitor mean tweets than to go out and solve real crimes and arrest bad people.
Insulting someone is illegal in Germany. The specifics of what constitutes an insult and what still counts as “freedom of opinion” have long been discussed in the courts. The relevant laws can be found here (in German): https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/stgb/BJNR001270871.html#BJNR001270871BJNG005102307
And yes, we have a specific law on insulting politicians, down to local level. If you insult a politician in a way that “could be detrimental to their public work” (my translation), you could face up to three years in prison or a fine. I don’t think anyone has gone to jail for that yet. The law was passed by the “traffic light coalition” that was in office until earlier this year, and was motivated by a strong increase in insults directed at politicians, plus a killing of a county-level one. https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/stgb/__188.html
You, you, you, YOU GERMAN!!!
Re: Fink
But if you were a sixties kid, typically male, Fink meant Big Daddy Roth’s immortal Rat Fink.
________________________________
Ed became Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, a hot-roddin’, gear head, mad scientist, and struggling artist who financed his inventions by selling drawings and t-shirts at drag events, fairs, and car shows. Big Daddy Roth would draw cartoons of monsters that he created and pictures of cars, but when he personally airbrushed t-shirts with the monsters driving the cars, people went crazy and would line up at his booth.
The most popular Ed “Big Daddy” Roth monster was Rat Fink. Rat Fink started as a drawing that Ed had put on his refrigerator. Ed “Big Daddy” Roth was a genius at designing cars, but it was Rat Fink that brought him fame. By 1963, teenagers across America were buying Rat Fink model kits and mass-produced Rat Fink T-shirts by Ed “Big Daddy” Roth.
https://www.ratfink.com/ed-roth-museum/big-daddy-roth-bio
________________________________
There are Rat Fink reunions to this day.
https://www.ratfink.com/product-category/reunion
Fink different!
Re: More Fink
Of course the pejorative meaning of fink I recall as a kid was that it meant to rat someone out or be someone who did so.
In which case Dr. Matthäus Fink, a state prosecutor tasked with policing Germany’s robust hate speech laws, is well-named.
If someone called Fink a fink, would it be hate speech?
Fink: I was greatly amused as a teen in the ’60s, to see a Fink’s Bread truck in Manhattan.
Allan Sherman knew what a fink was. Allan Sherman: Rat Fink
The song came from Rag Mop, recorded and composed in the ’40s by Johnnie Lee Wills—better known as the younger brother of Bob Wills, the King of Western Swing.Rag Mop – Johnnie Lee Wills (1949).
I fink Fink is a putz.
“The King is a fink!” was a common line in The Wizard of Id comic strip.
@ Neo > “Insulting politicians seems to be a crime in Germany.”
If the people had been free to insult Hitler and other politicians without being fined, jailed, or shot, maybe the Germans wouldn’t have started a world war.
As for today’s snowflakes:
“If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.”
“Politics ain’t beanbag.”
However, I could go along with making people remove fake “quotes” if they are presented as real, IOW not in a clearly identifiable satirical site or post or meme.
OTOH, politicians should be able to present the facts and argue their own case without hand-holding.
And huxley is correct, in more cases than just Germany.
“I suspect it’s more fun and safer for the police to monitor mean tweets than to go out and solve real crimes and arrest bad people.”
In re Neo’s last link, one of the persons quoted insisted there was no surveillance; then how are they finding all that hate speech?
@ Barry > “You, you, you, YOU GERMAN!!!”
https://accordingtohoyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/1782753416112508928.jpg?w=602
https://x.com/pegobry_en/status/1938972113999647195?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1938972113999647195%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Finstapundit.com%2F729088%2F
==
Pascal Emmanuel Gobry nails it.
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Huxley – “But, your honor, the prosecutor IS a Fink.”
The problem with german philosophy is instead of locke they have hegel and the poison as with rousseau goes downstream into marx and the precursors of hitler