'Inside the Dystopian World of Germany's Free Speech Crackdown' (yahoo.com)
- Reference: 0184711412
- News link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/07/27/0037219/inside-the-dystopian-world-of-germanys-free-speech-crackdown
- Source link: https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/inside-orwellian-world-germany-free-050000945.html
> One German had his home raided for calling a minister a "Schwachkopf [dummy]" while another was fined €2,000 (£1,700) for calling Friedrich Merz a "lying Fritz" under a law that, critics claim, makes it effectively illegal to make fun of politicians. The number of investigations under Section 86a, the Nazi symbols ban... has more than doubled over the past decade according to official police statistics. Investigations into the "political insult" law also reached record levels in 2025. The surge in cases is so vast that the UN has launched an investigation into free speech violations in Germany, a step typically reserved for dictatorships and banana republics...
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> In one recent case, a pensioner was investigated under Section 188 for posting "Pinocchio is coming" on Facebook, after he learnt Friedrich Merz, the chancellor, was visiting his hometown... The case was dropped after the story caused an outcry in Germany, and police have since clarified that calling the chancellor Pinocchio is not a crime... In November 2024, police in Bavaria raided the home of another pensioner because he called Robert Habeck, the then vice-chancellor of Germany, a "schwachkopf", or dummy. The raid was reportedly launched after Mr Habeck personally filed a criminal complaint against the pensioner. Prosecutors eventually dropped the investigation after deciding that the insult "dummy" was not of "sufficient weight" to merit criminal charges.
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> While such cases might seem like bizarre outliers, there are plenty of others. In 2021, police raided a man's apartment in Hamburg after he told a senator "you're such a d---," and this year a resident was fined €2,000 for calling Mr Merz a "lying Fritz". Official figures show a record 4,792 Section 188 cases were filed in Germany in 2025, with the numbers rising by nearly 85 per cent between 2023 and 2025.
The article notes both left- and right-leaning free speech activists in Germany are calling for some of the stricter laws to be scrapped. And it adds that the uproar "bears some similarities to the free speech debate in Britain, where citizens have had a knock on the door from police over opinions posted online."
[1] https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/inside-orwellian-world-germany-free-050000945.html
Who would have thought (Score:1)
It almost seems like criminalising political speech is what one might call a "slippery slope"
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No, your wrong. It's a slippery cliff...
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He doest care as he uses all your money to enrich himself and his peers and bombs other countries, whilst making sure the populace is dumb and poor.
Re: American exceptionalism (Score:1)
Imagine all the pent-up energy cuz he hasn't been able to jerk off for years while his teenage son is monitoring his wanking
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that username. it is funny.
(the political take... eh)
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It is Mathias Döpfner, and most of his portfolio is pro-EU. But that doesn't mean he doesn't want to make money from the brexit wankers as well, hence the Telegraph purchase.
The end of capitalism (Score:2)
This is just another step in the march towards capitalism, complete private capture of public institutions by capitalists. The laws will increasingly be biased to protect the wealthiest classes and the poor will be punished for minor infractions.
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Those crazy capitalists. So [1]funny [meme-arsenal.com].
[1] https://images.meme-arsenal.com/37a1439098ae4c2576e96cc76eb28363.jpg
The only way to stop the Nazis (Score:2)
.. is to become the Nazis.
Can anyone from Germany (Score:2)
verify if this is true (it would explain the speech clampdown) Max Otte says Germany Is Racing Toward Total Collapse [1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com] AI summary:
> Economic Decline: Otte explains that Germany is failing to adapt its industrial base—long reliant on mechanical and electrical engineering, chemicals, and automotive sectors—to the modern AI and chip revolution (4:03 - 4:16). He characterizes Europe as lagging behind global competitors like China and the US. Geopolitical Dependency: Bot
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny_uu9mK7FA
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Yeah, indeed, tfs talks (without much context) about the same case twice to create an impression of some nightmare. And in between we hear how bad is to ban the glorification of Nazism.
Kinda weak argument, but look at it from the upside - if you are a proud maga, you can bash "the EU" in the discussion for a week and feel very smug. Because, you know, facts don't matter.
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MAGA is the epitome of "identity politics", dear anonymous coward, your lot identifies by skin color and christian fundamentalism. You're the largest "grievance group" and it was your politicians that massaged your lies into the framework of corruption and lies that runs the territory formerly known as USA today.
But tell us more about those "knocks from the jackboots" by the Health & Safety minister. Are you babbling about the vaccine policies? I hear they are back with a vengeance under Hickseth, just
Re:"proud maga" (Score:4, Interesting)
The very (false, but that's besides the point) narrative that "you can shit on christians all day long", "but not some other religions" is literal and fundamental example of identity politics. You literally try to use a textbook identity politics narrative perpetuated by a group as an example of how that group doesn't engage in identity politics. Powerful self own, Anonymous coward. Not just political but logical. Thank you for your contribution to the discussion.
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> These concepts didn't come from maga
Banning science, removing books from libraries, pushing open and harmful religious fundamentalism as "conscience laws", attacks on separation of one specific religion and state powers, harassment and terrorism based on fundamentalist beliefs against hospitals, racism thinly veiled as "preservation of Judeo-Christian heritage" and rewriting history to remove people of the wrong color and religion did, though.
> If your view of history made any sense, insulting Christ or shaming Christians would land you in court
Trying to keep christian fundamentalism away from state, as dictated by the US constitution lands peo
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As a non American I’d rather have maga than whatever mental gymnastics the Germans performing to justify the latest round of their fascist knee jerks as solutions to problems. The least surprising thing of 2026 was that Germans came up with a final solution for ze possibility of ze maga. If anything Germany proved that speech control will inevitably lead to political speech control. Interesting how calling leaders tyrants , thiefs and little twerps was the first impulse of those wielding that tool. So
Re: "proud maga" (Score:3)
> As a non American Iâ(TM)d rather have maga than whatever mental gymnastics the Germans performing to justify the latest round of their fascist knee jerks as solutions to problems.
Our former FBI director is currently facing federal charges for posting a picture of "8647", apparently regarding a president that has already been impeached twice. The allegations are that 86 is a call for violence and not impeach and remove from office for example.
Mental gymnastics and fascist knee jerk solutions are kind of this administration's whole thing. Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire. Maybe do a bit more research.
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It's like something out of 1984. The book, not the Van Halen album.
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I don't love it since Comey should be allowed to be an ass to his heart's content (not referring to the post in question, just that he's an ass), but the peculiar circumstances involving repeated actual assassination attempts that seem to be connected to public incitement might have been what the grand jury (not the DoJ) decided to issue the indictment for.
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Yes. The old Boomercon Right actually believed in free speech, equality and democracy. The New Right consider them some of the dumbest ideas ever because we've now seen that they're enough to destroy civilization in a few decades.
So right now the Boomer Republicans are the only thing preventing the right from throwing the left into camps. As soon as those are gone it will be full on white male identity politics and no mercy for the woke left.
The left don't actually believe this because otherwise they'd be d
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> when in your own country corruption is a national policy, election maps are redrawn to remove voting power from a fifth of the population and the tail wags the dog in wars of aggression that putin can only lust after.
> ow, say, can you see by the dawn's early light
> what so proudly you hung at the twilight's last gleaming;
> looks like the corpse of american democracy, lol.
ummm.... The Telegraph is a British paper, you know...
not much of a nexus to the US in the article except for one woman who fled here and applied for asylum apparently.