[s9w]

I think free speech is usually seen in a non-national context in a sense of "you can say whatever you want. No exceptions". So Germany does not have that at all.

"Hatespeech" on top of the "legal"/national definitions for what is sometimes also called free speech (but isn't at all) are just contraptions to censor people, usually the political opposition.

[zaarn]

If "you can say whatever you want. No exceptions" is your definition of free speech it doesn't exist. ANYWHERE. Not even in the US. All speech in all countries has restrictions.

The US has slander, for example, which can certainly land you fines or jail time. Lying in certain circumstances too.

>are just contraptions to censor people, usually the political opposition.

Which political opposition is being censored in Germany that isn't just a reincarnation of the NPD/PEGIDA/MLPD? And please don't bring up anything that is a decision by a private entity, they can "censor" all they like and it wouldn't violate any free speech laws at all.

[s9w]

I didn't say that ideal exists anywhere. The US certainly gets much closer than any European countries I know.

Many German citizens have been raided, sued, fined, jailed or otherwise silenced because they criticized the current government, in particular the political decisions since 2015. Many people are opposed to that. And most of them are not of the group you mentioned.

[zaarn]

I know plenty of people who critized the government for decisions around and after 2015, publicly even, and none of them were raided, sued, fined or jailed for it.

Maybe these people are actually in the groups and just employ the standard tactic of claiming to be a lone wolf when asked.

[s9w]

> I know plenty of people who critized the government for decisions around and after 2015, publicly even, and none of them were raided, sued, fined or jailed for it.

That doesn't mean that these things don't happen. Just one recent example:

https://www.einprozent.de/blog/meinungsfreiheit/friedlicher-...

or this:

https://www.vice.com/de/article/8xe7jg/kuchen-tv-volksverhet...

[zaarn]

Your first link goes to a blog that's operated by a known right-wing extremist who is part of the Neuen Rechten and the AfD. The second link is some youtuber doing something that is either extremely dumb or very right-wing and rightfully earned him a visit at the nearest courthouse.

[s9w]

You are free to find other sources, the facts remain the same. I can't talk about (these) political parties without being banned.

If you really think that the guy deserves an unjust sentence for being right-wing, then I'm afraid of people like you. That is exactly what this argument was about: Political opposition being silenced.

[DanBC]

> "you can say whatever you want. No exceptions"

Does anywhere have that? The US certainly doesn't.