German Free Speech

🇩🇪Germany: "Free Speech" is an oxymoron. Free speech/expression means freedom to say/do things I dislike. Germans don’t have that. Everything is by permission, and many things aren’t allowed: (1) Some parties are outlawed (2) Deny the holocaust: go to prison (3) Have the wrong religion (Scientology, Johova’s witnesses, Pagan symbols) (4) Insult a cop (5) call someone a Hitler, (6) name your kid the wrong thing (7) insult a foreign head of state... these are all criminal offenses. And the list goes on.

Things you're not allowed to say/do in Germany

• There’s no limits on private or corporate donations to political campaigns. So their Citizens United equivalent is in full force. (How come the Bernie Sanders of the world that whine about how great it is over there, don’t remember things like this?) So they do have this.
• Some political parties and ideologies there are outlawed. I don't belong to them, but they have thought crime (Nazi’s, Communists, etc). Deny the holocaust: go to prison.
• You can be fined 20 euros for calling someone an "arse" but 5,000 euros for calling an official a "little Hitler”.
• You can’t even sing the first line of their national anthem “Deutschland, Deutschland über alles” without it being a crime. Songs have gotten censored (Rammstein for lyrics that were, “I want to hurt you” was claimed to incite violence).
• There is no religious freedom (Religion is controlled): Scientology is monitored as a threat to the state. Johova’s witnesses are outlawed. Advertising by Religious institutions is controlled. Pagan symbols are often outlawed. Symbols such as crosses or headscarves are outlawed in government buildings (including schools)
• It’s illegal to wear masks (at protests) <- one I agree with
• I want to be able to flip someone off that cuts me off on the highway: that’s criminal
• Being rude to a police officer is a crime (even addressing them informally)
• Saying things against a foreign head of state, is a crime, with a real threat of extradition and prosecution.
• 6 month prison sentences for reposting a historic photo.

📚 References