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by ferrari8608 3835 days ago
I don't understand how deleting an online record of hate speech and threats of violence is going to do anything to help solve any problems. It will make the net look prettier, but the people who would post such things will still be there thinking and feeling exactly as they do now.
3 comments

Post-WWII Germany has had strict controls on public hate speech of all types, as a legacy of national shame/disgust about the Holocaust. I’m all for free speech, but I can’t really blame them for exercising caution, all things considered.
The law against it actually already existed previous to WWII, starting with 1871. But it wasn't strongly enforced, and worded not clear enough.
A call for violence can incite violence. So, removing calls for violence will help reduce violence.
The goal is to prevent "echo chambers" where prone to be influenced people build violent or extreme views that will have a real and very detrimental impact on society. It denies the premisse that "speech is just speech and does not harm anyone". It sure is debatable and it raises many issues, but it is not about just making the net look prettier.
What you get is exactly an echo chamber - like ok HN,anyone disagreeing with consensus gets downvoted into oblivion.