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[Pwnzerfaust]

Completely stupid, to be honest. The only thing that should be removed is things like child porn, and direct calls to violence. Germany's hate speech laws are far too broad, and in many instances I feel violates freedom of expression.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Good job Germany, you found a way to not just fuck up your own country's internet but to potentially spread policies that fuck up everybody's internet.

[Dorsidwarf]

Inflicting internal issues on the rest of the West through a variety of controversial, high-energy and proactive means is basically Germany's thing

[Helgoland]

Germany's hate speech laws are far too broad, and in many instances I feel violates freedom of expression.

Germans feel differently, and in fact many here consider the US approach to the matter schizophrenic at the very least. 'Freedom of expression' is not a thing that falls from heaven, for all of mankind to hold it sacred - it is, and can only be, determined by societal consensus.

TL;DR: There's the 'Murrica way, and there's what folks over here hold to be the right way. They often coincide, but when they do not, neither is automatically superior.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I love how enlightenment philosophy is now just "the Murrica way" which right and proper Germans ought to reject and set as the standard for every other nation in Europe.

[hector13]

Well one the things that the article mentioned was that corporations have 7 days to remove offensive but not illegal speech before the fine, which is what I issue with.

Where do you draw the line on that? What I find offensive is going to be different from what other folks find offensive, which is going to be different what different other folks find offensive, and so on.

"Something this person posted offended me! I demand you take it down or I'll go to the authorities who might fine you!"

"Okay, Mrs. Whitehouse, done."

[smjjames]

As Hector said, that's the problem, if you don't follow the legal definition, trying to define what is offensive (unless you follow the really obvious stuff) isn't going to work because you're working with so many different definitions.

Also, a thought occured to me, does Germany want those companies to enforce it on EVERYTHING regardless of point of origin (if point of origin can be proved) or do they want to enforce it only on things originating in Germany (again, if point of origin can be proved)? Because if they want those companies to enforce it on everything, won't they run into problems if the point of origin is outside Germany?

Obviously enforcing their Terms of Service is one thing, but this sounds like it'd go beyond the ToS.

[Alastar]

As a German, I'm not in favour; our existing laws regarding this are already excessive and do more harm than good. There might be a massive chilling effect to consider, where much that wouldn't be covered by the law is taken down just to be safe. I also think that it's not good to take away the voice of the disaffected, regardless how objectionable some of their views might be to most... if something can't be said, it can't be refuted. Making sure that these people can only voice their thoughts in an echo chamber where they're surrounded by like-minded people will only breed radicalism.

Last not least, our institutions are also ramping up soft pressure to enforce "acceptable" political positions. Fringe political parties and other "undesirables" can expect to be mired in malicious red tape if they try to get anything organised in the open through the proper channels. This is widely accepted, occasionally even praised in the press. While there is no ruthless crushing of dissent, the overall atmosphere is a bit stifling and does imo not reflect the liberal values modern Germany professes to have. Not healthy.

[Helgoland]

I love how enlightenment philosophy is now just "the Murrica way" which right and proper Germans ought to reject and set as the standard for every other nation in Europe.

Funny how a particular interpretation of certain ideals that is currently popular in the US is now the entirety of Enlightenment philosophy... I'd also like to point out that at no point was I talking about any country other than Germany. What, next you're going to tell me that Germany is not a Rechtsstaat because we lack juries and they're obviously vital to the rule of law? Please. We can have a debate about the limits free speech ought to have - and IMO the US uses a pretty radical interpretation - but don't act like the US version is a priori the only valid one.

Regarding the 'remove offensive content within seven days' bit: Without having delved further into the topic, I'd think that the 24 hour deadline applies to stuff that's obviously a violation of existing law - showing the Hitler salute, for example - and the seven day one applies to stuff that's illegal, but not entirely obviously so.
The real issue is that we're essentially outsourcing part of law enforcement to private companies. What we'd really need would be a federal bureau for evaluation of possibly illegal content, and then a quick (less than an hour, I'd say) way to get that bureau's decision implemented within the company in question. Long-term day-dream: Make big companies semi-public institutions...

[Strife26]

Well, at least Germany isn't Canada, who are now claiming that they have the right to fuck with what Google shows to people outside of Canada.

[scriver]

They've had it with Google showing criminal outsiders the locations of their Strategic Maple Syrup Reserves. 

[Culise]

They've had it with Google showing criminal outsiders the locations of their Strategic Maple Syrup Reserves.

Well, if those criminals would just stop stealing it for their pancakes, they wouldn't have to worry.  I mean, what size pancake even needs 3000 tonnes of maple syrup? 

[scriver]

The best kind. The global pan-cake.

[Loud Whispers]

New Klemen Sakonja (guy who did putin putout)

[martinuzz]

The city of Amsterdam is opening the first strict-regime refugee center for refugees that misbehaved.
An old juvenile detention center will be renovated and, starting this autumn, will provide a location to house 50 refugees that have been found to be agressive, or anti-gay, or broke the rules of their previous refugee shelter. The refugees will have a sober and strict accomodation. They will not be locked inside though, they will be allowed to move in and out freely, outside of strict daytime program hours. The location is not meant to house refugees who have been convicted of a crime, nor will it be used to house refugees with pshychological problems.

The idea behind this is not so much as to punish the bad apples, but rather to make the normal refugee centers a safer place for the well-behaved, and for gays.
Incidents over the past years with violence against gays in refugee centers led the national coordinator for refugees to say that the Dutch state cannot guarantee the safety of gays in Dutch refugee centers.
This first led to a plan to house gay refugees in special gay locations. This plan was cut down by furious protest of gay rights organisations, saying that it's not right to single out the gays for the bad behaviour of others, even if it is for their own protection.
Hence the new plan. The government plans to open a handful more of these locations around the country.