Free Speech, German Style

You probably have heard about the 60 Minutes segment last night that focused on Germany’s criminalization of “hate speech” on the internet. 60 Minutes reporters accompanied six armed policemen as they raided an apartment at dawn, searching for evidence of a thought crime. That was one of more than 50 such raids conducted simultaneously across Germany. They also interviewed law enforcement personnel, “experts,” and a left-wing activist or two.

First the segment, which is around 13 minutes long, then some observations on it:

In Germany, it is a crime to insult someone–even a politician!–in public, and even more so on the internet. So is anyone being prosecuted for insulting leaders of the Alternative For Germany, the reviled anti-immigration party? Oddly, the 60 Minutes reporters never asked that question.

The 60 Minutes narrator says, “We were with state police as they raided this apartment,” looking for evidence of posting a “racist cartoon.” In German, “state police” is Gestadt Polizei. I’d swear I’ve heard that phrase somewhere before. You could shorten it into something catchy…

If the rest of us see echoes of the Third Reich in these efforts to criminalize wrongthink, the Germans themselves–consistent with their reputation–seem blind to the irony.

Liberals like CBS’s Margaret Brennan see a lot of advantages to the German system. And the more I think about it, the more I can see their point. There are plenty of echoes of America here. For example, a major driver of German limitations on speech was the fact that a politician was attacked on the internet, often unfairly, for four years, at the end of which time he was shot in the head. Exactly like what happened here, then, to Donald Trump–with the single exception that Trump miraculously survived. Under the German system, those who attacked Trump could be criminally prosecuted.

One or more Germans have been prosecuted for calling a politician a “pimmel,” which means dick. What a coincidence! Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia has just called Elon Musk a dick, a characterization that a number of other Democrats have endorsed. Under German law, they would be criminals, subject to fines, confiscation of their cell phones and laptops, and, if repeat offenders, prison time. What’s not to like about that?

Remarkably, under German law, posting or re-posting something that isn’t true is a crime. For us conservatives, this opens endless possibilities! The most notorious misinformation of America’s modern history is the Russia collusion hoax. The reporters and editors at the Washington Post, the New York Times, CNN, MSNBC, and most other liberal outlets would all be criminals under German law for posting or re-posting the fraud. Since pretty much all of them are repeat offenders, jail time would be a real possibility. Again, since Democrats hate free speech, why shouldn’t we go along with them?

Here is another parallel between Germany and the U.S.: an activist interviewed by 60 Minutes, a leftist who advocates censorship, says that half of German internet users are afraid to express their political opinions, and rarely participate in debates online. The same is true in America! Polls show that many conservatives, maybe most, are afraid to express their political opinions online. Maybe we should adopt the German system, so that liberals who abuse them online are subject to fines, device confiscation, and, potentially, prison time.

The more I think about the German system–free speech, sure, but no insults or false statements–the more I like it. I think President Trump should advocate the same system here. That might be the one thing that could cause Democrats to, however reluctantly, embrace the First Amendment. At least until they are back in power.