[pjc50]

> an ex-Stasi person drafting rules proposing rules about what you can and can't say, which seems pretty specific.

But what's the actual content of the rules?

> Hate speech is often used to defend ideas, eg, religion, from legitimate criticism.

I'm guessing you mean "hate speech law", because hate speech certainly turns up when defending religious homophobia, for example? But do you have an example of legitimate criticism of religion being shut down by hate speech law?

The German position on this is rather different to the American; Germany is used to bans on Swastikas and other symbols of the far-right, simply because they're not legitimate competitors in the marketplace of ideas but the kind of viral hatred that can lead to genocide.

[nailer]

> But do you have an example of legitimate criticism of religion being shut down by hate speech law?

Here's the UK Home Secretary suggesting tightening rules that allow UK firms to recruit workers from overseas, being investigated by police as matter of hatred of immigrants. The complainant in this case is Joshua Silver, a well known troll, however police are obliged to act:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38597714

[pjc50]

So the Home Secretary recieved no repercussions and the incident was no-crimed by the police, who then took no action? Not exactly the boot of the Stasi, is it?

(Also, that doesn't seem to be a "criticism of religion" either?)

[nailer]

It was a massive waste of police resources. And not every misuse of hate crime laws is based on religion, this was just the most recent one.