Comment by mousethatroared
1 day ago
Most European countries criminalize insults, and there might be some merit to this among private individuals.
But the EU, and Germany in particular, has upped the ante criminalizing obvious satire against politicians in a manner obviously meant to shield a very unpopular political class.
Ok? That just seems like a democratic law. I'd have to see an actual case of misuse to feel any alarm. What's the point of insulting/degrading politicians anyway?
Is that last sentence in good faith? What is this, the Middle Ages? Is there any reason not to be able to insult a politician if I feel like it?
> Is there any reason not to be able to insult a politician if I feel like it?
Because the democratic and legitimate law has determined that you cant. You don't get to argue about the law of another culture from first principles. The laws of Germany are at the discretion of the Germans. That's what it means to be sovereign.
2 replies →
No, not OK.
Even if we admit the criminalization of insults among private individuals, what makes it pernicious to criminalize insulting politicians is that they are powerful.
Politicians, as a class, effectively control mass media, state violence, and the purse. One of the only effective curbs on their power is ridicule.
In America this is called punching up.
Pray tell me, would you be OK if a EU police arrested a comedian for mocking [1] Putin or Trump? If not, your position is strictly partisan therefore not universal, and therefore self serving.
Anyway, we found the EUist.
[1] I said mocking, not encouraging violence
EUist as an insult is peak. I love it.
> a EU police arrested a comedian for mocking Putin or Trump
The EU doesn't have a police force, nor does it legislate the moral standards of the member states. Making this some sort of EU issue is ridiculous.
You have an unhealthy relationship with the laws if you decide to make the contrast that sharp. There is in fact a difference between making fun of your local politicians and making fun of a foreign dictator. I'm not saying that justifies differences in laws, I'm also not NOT saying that. I am saying you'd have to present at real concrete case for anybody to make any useful determination.
1 reply →