Policing the internet in Germany, where hate speech, insults are a crime | 60 Minutes

60 Minutes · 535.8K views · 2025-02-17 · 13:13

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Overview

A 60 Minutes segment on how German prosecutors and police go after online hate speech and insults, which are crimes there. It contrasts this with the broad First Amendment protection of online speech in the US.

On Hacker News

HN mostly cites it in unrelated threads as evidence of European speech restrictions, and some commenters call it propaganda.

Discussed on HN; no positive recommendation is recorded in this export · HN mentions 2025–2025

Topics

Free speech, censorship & civil liberties Law, policing & justice

What people said

IlikeKitties · 2025-11 · Reference
> Trusted Flaggers > 1 Pimmel Affäre > Schwachkopf Affäre Oder zuletzt > [LINK] and last but not least: > [VIDEO] Germany is very much implementing censorship by chilling effect.
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IlikeKitties · 2025-10 · Criticism
German speaking here: People here in Germany do not want to think about just how bad our constitution really is designed. We only get free speech lte, There's no fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine leading to constant prosecutorial overreach and illegal searches[0] that are later ruled illegal but with on effect and our public prosecutors are so much lacking in independence that they aren't allowed to issue european arrest warrants [1]. But I've heard people tell me with complete conviction how great our constitution is. I can't even bother arguing about it anymore. [0] And they brag about it on 60 minutes [VIDEO] [1] [LINK]
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looping__lui · 2025-10 · Criticism
Well, CBS News dedicated an entire episode on these “propaganda stories”… [VIDEO] [LINK] Germany’s constitution (the Basic Law) does protect freedom of opinion and expression, but it explicitly allows restrictions via “general laws” to protect personal honor, youth, and human dignity. Recent enforcement shows how this plays out: police raids have targeted individuals posting “hate speech” or “extremist” content online. What constitutes hate speech or extremist content is “conveniently” interpreted at times.
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Sources

Video by 60 Minutes, played through YouTube.

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