Quote (Black XistenZ @ 22 Jun 2017 22:47)
i was not referring to the raids themselves, I was referring to the censorship that IMHO is being expanded under Maas. and yes, heiko maas is all the time talking about shutting down "hate speech" online, about making the posters of racism on social media accountable, and if that doesnt work, lets make facebook and co accountable for what their users are writing, and so on. and lets not forget that this is not all talk, he is currently trying to get his "netzwerkdurchsuchungsgesetz" (english: network scanning law) through parliament. this bill, if it were to become law in its current form, would a ) outsource censorship of social media from the courts towards the social media sites themselves and b ) incentivise massive 'overblocking' by threatening fines of up to 50 million € to the social media sites which dont delete those posts fast enough that are considered "hate speech".
heiko maas is, through his words and actions, creating an environment in which it is blatantly obvious to all bodies of law enforcement that their bosses boss wants to see an intensified fight against so-called hate speech.
if his "netzwerkdurchsuchungsgesetz" passes, it is the most severe attack on freedom of speech that germany has seen since wwII. and once those things turn into law, courts will have to follow the guidelines on what constitutes hate speech that are given out by his justice department.
needless to mention that heiko maas has repeatedly shown his sympathy for left-wing extremist groups. he once liked a left-wing extremist punk band which is surveilled by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. his son is a member of the german antifa. he congratulated left-wing activists who blocked a march by right-wing activists via unlawful means. maybe excusable for the minister of agriculture or something, but certainly not for the head of the justice department. in general, he is constantly barking against right-wing activists and the threat from the right side of the political spectrum, but at the same time barely ever says a word about left-wing extremism and crimes, or about islamistic terrorists.
oh don't get me wrong, i'm 100% AGAINST the new initiative in its current form, not even a question. however, i was refering specifically to this raid and the kneejerk "nazi thought police" reaction, especially from ppl living in a country where black and poor people get murdered by the police on a regular basis without any repercussions, a country that happily gave away major individual freedoms after 2001, basically establishing a surveillance state for the vague promise of some additional security...
but i also oppose the ridiculously onesided boogeyman rhetoric when it comes to maas, even though i personally think he's doing a rather underwhelming job, focusing on the wrong issues at the wrong time, and not really protecting the best interest of the majority of germans - even though i'm also certain that he's convinced he's doing that...
This post was edited by fender on Jun 22 2017 04:16pm