Free Speech in Germany

Countries Forum

A man may be jailed for his belittling remarks on a German message board about 9/11.

In reflection, he says his comments were "sarcastic". Are German authorities stepping over the boundries of Free Speech?

If so, where do you draw the line?

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2636211.stm

Well.. I read the article, but it didn't really reveal much in my eyes. (buncha type-os and errors in that story too.. having invented the English language, you'd think those Brits at BBC would have the **** figured out by now.. *head scratch* ) - anyway, the open question for me is: DOES ermany have a policy regarding freedom of speech? I mean it's not the US of A where we have speech constitutionally protected, so I really don't know anything about it. I do know one thing though from living there that you're bound to get your butt kicked by metion of the name Hitler to the wrong bloke..

I'm not sure what their guidelines are either in terms of "free speech" and if it's free at all.

One thing I know is that they're VERY particular about a lot of things. For example, I believe they tend to ban a lot of video games from the country (including titles like Doom). They condemn violence (as it should) and any other sort of media that would imply death in any way. It seems as though they're trying to make up for where their heritage previously lacked discipline.

I don't know if it's fair that I say that - but, oh well - I did.