If you’ve ever dared to read the comments on a social media post, you might start to wonder if civilized discourse is just a myth. Aggressive threats, lies, and harassment have unfortunately become the norm online, where anonymity has emboldened some users to push the limits of civility. In the United States, most of what anyone says, sends, or streams online — even if it’s hate-filled or toxic — is protected by the First Amendment as free speech. But Germany is trying to bring some civility to the world wide web by policing it in a way most Americans could never imagine. In an effort, it says, to protect discourse, German authorities have started prosecuting online trolls. And as we saw, it often begins with a pre-dawn wake-up call from the police.
It’s 6:01 on a Tuesday morning, and we were with state police as they raided this apartment in northwest Germany. Inside, six armed officers searched a suspect’s home, then seized his laptop and cellphone. Prosecutors say those electronics may have been used to commit a crime. The crime? Posting a racist cartoon online. At the exact same time, across Germany, more than 50 similar raids played out. Part of what prosecutors say is a coordinated effort to curb online hate speech in Germany.
Sharyn Alfonsi: What’s the typical reaction when the police show up at somebody’s door and they say, “Hey, we believe you wrote this on the internet,”?
Dr. Matthäus Fink: They say– in Germany we say, “Das wird man ja wohl noch sagen dürfen.” So we are here with crimes of talking, posting on internet, and the people are surprised that this is really illegal to post these kind of words.
Sharyn Alfonsi: They don’t think it was illegal?
Dr. Matthäus Fink: No. They don’t think it was illegal. And they say, “No, that’s my free speech.” And we say, “No, you have free speech as well, but it is also has its limits.”
60 Minutes
Interpreting those limits is part of the job for Dr. Matthäus Fink, Svenja Meininghaus and Frank-Michael Laue: a few of the state prosecutors tasked with policing Germany’s robust hate speech laws, online. After its darkest chapter, Germany strengthened its speech laws. As prosecutors explain it, the German constitution protects free speech but not hate speech. And here’s where it gets tricky, German law…
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