Weeks after Germany’s Cabinet announced a plan to fine social media companies over their users “hate speech” and amid efforts to push similar restrictions across the European Union, authorities are cracking down on individuals whom they have deemed to have crossed a line. The New York Times reports, “In a coordinated campaign across 14 states, the German police on Tuesday raided the homes of 36 people accused of hateful postings over social media, including threats, coercion and incitement to racism.”
The specific nature of the allegedly hateful postings isn’t detailed, except to say that
The fact it’s already a crime in Germany to post “hateful” speech, however that may be defined, is alarming in itself. If some politicians in Germany have their way, it will get worse. In April, Germany’s Cabinet approved a plan to fine social media companies up to 50 million Euros if they don’t remove hateful postings quickly enough. According to this Reuters report, Germany is also pushing to make restrictions on speech an issue across the European Union:
Some German leaders have noted that the new law is likely unconstitutional and that it would actively suppress speech by creating incentives to remove any statement that could be remotely viewed as controversial for the sake of avoiding potentially massive fines.
Germany is not the only European nation struggling with free speech. A case from Britain—one dealing with admittedly incendiary speech—shows the disturbing levels authorities will go to to root out hateful speech.
It was also reported Wednesday that a British man, Nigel Pelham, has been sentenced to 20 months in jail for Facebook postings that suggested Britain should introduce “bomb a mosque day” and invited his Facebook followers to “put a Muslim on top of a bonfire.”
Pelham pleaded guilty and these are unquestionably ugly sentiments, but it’s hard to gauge how literal such statements should be taken. It’s also revealing how authorities seem to justify these arrests. This statement from a British police sergeant about the Pelham arrest is notable for actively encouraging citizens to rat out neighbors and acquaintances:
So you can file an anonymous, online report against neighbor who is saying something you don’t like? What could go wrong? And then there’s this statement on the raids by Holger Münch, the president of the Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office: “Our free society must not allow a climate of fear, threat, criminal violence and violence either on the street or on the internet.”
This should be so obvious it doesn’t need to be said, but when you’re raiding people’s homes over social media postings—you don’t really live in a free society anymore.
