Less than two years after the law was passed, Lübcke’s murder in 2019 reinforced the idea that, left unchecked, online hate speech could spill over into real violence, convincing some lawmakers to push for even stricter controls. Forged in the late 1950s, Germany’s robust hate speech laws were a direct response to the country’s experience with Nazism and an acknowledgment that the rise of authoritarianism was partly made possible by the fact that it was legal to use incendiary propaganda that drew on racist tropes and was designed to stoke prejudice.įor decades now, incitement to hatred against national, religious, ethnic or racial groups has been illegal in Germany using racial slurs or displaying Nazi symbols in public can land you in court.įorensic police on the scene of a mass shooting in Germany | Thomas Lohnes/AFP via Getty Images The country has some of the strictest laws on what is acceptable speech. It’s perhaps no coincidence the debate over what can and can’t be said on the internet is happening in Germany.
“To come up with a law that is both balanced and effective is far from a trivial task.” Hate speech problem
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“We’re walking a tightrope, having to balance the fight against disinformation, incitement and slander on one side with the right to free speech on the other, which is of paramount importance in democracies,” he added. “What we’re debating here in Berlin has great relevance for all democracies, whether they’re in Europe or elsewhere in the world,” said Konstantin von Notz, a member of the German parliament for the opposition Green Party. Early next year, the European Union is set to unveil a new rulebook, known as the Digital Services Act, which intends to clarify how online platforms should moderate illegal content. It’s a debate that has implications that go far beyond Germany’s borders. Pushed far enough, legislation requiring platforms to reveal users’ identity to authorities - without a court order, as is currently required in Germany - could change the fundamental nature of the internet. Privacy advocates argue the move would violate rule-of-law guarantees in the German constitution.
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This new set of complaints - coming as Germany is about to roll out a controversial upgrade to NetzDG that would force platforms to proactively report hate speech to law enforcement - has once again set off alarm bells among civil libertarians. The legislation now also faces an additional breed of critics: those who say it doesn’t go far enough - that people posting hate speech should be unmasked and brought to justice. Today, three years after the bill was passed, many of them say their fears have materialized.Įarly next year, the European Union is set to unveil a new rulebook, known as the Digital Services Act, which intends to clarify how online platforms should moderate illegal content.
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Critics of the law said its measures, which require social media platforms like Facebook to quickly take down incendiary material or face big fines, could stifle political speech or be used as a model for authoritarian governments to crack down on online dissent. Berlin’s unprecedented attempt to balance these twin commitments - the Network Enforcement Act, known as NetzDG - elicited howls of protest from free speech crusaders when it was passed in 2017.
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