is there Freedom of Speech in the EU?

[dead0man]

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[America Needs R'hllor]

Yes, because your form of "freedom of speech" isn't the only one that works. There are problems and they're going way too far in the hate-speech angle, but Europe is definitely free.

And none of the options on the second half fit my view, because I think it's too far on the authoritarian scale but the American way isn't necessarily the best either, so it's in-between.

[parochial boy]

The question is, would I prefer European style suppression of free speech, which involved excessive interpretations of hate sppech laws

or would I prefer US style suppression of free speech which involved deliberately stopping people from bein able to vote; and the incumbent president leading a harassment campaign against journalists?

[RINO Tom]

Hard no

[HillGoose]

doesn't sound like it from that lmao

[dead0man]

Yes, because your form of "freedom of speech" isn't the only one that works.

It's not the only form that works, it's the only form that is.  It's not Freedom of Speech if you're not free to say things that bother people.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

“Is there Freedom...in the EU?”

[America Needs R'hllor]

Yes, because your form of "freedom of speech" isn't the only one that works.

It's not the only form that works, it's the only form that is. It's not Freedom of Speech if you're not free to say things that bother people.

Not everything is black and white. In my book, nazism should be completely outlawed, for example. America is free to do it the way it wants, but you can't tell me I don't have freedom of speech at all if I can't say a narrow scope of things.

[dead0man]

Not everything is black and white. In my book, nazism should be completely outlawed, for example. America is free to do it the way it wants, but you can't tell me I don't have freedom of speech at all if I can't say a narrow scope of things.

Yes I can.   I might not be right, but I can still say it.  Other people can explain why I'm wrong.  If I'm not allowed to say it, people wouldn't have a chance to correct my mistake and I'd never learn.  That's why Freedom of Speech is so important.

And Europe is nowhere close to that.  They fine and put people in jail for teaching their dog to give a Nazi salute or for calling someone who's been dead for over a thousand years a pedo or quoting rap lyrics that have "nigga" in them on Twitter.  A society that has Freedom of Speech doesn't put people in jail for singing a hundred year old songs about killing Catholics or having honest to God "secret" trials.  If you think that's free speech then I think you don't know what words mean.

[Mr. Reactionary]

EU? More like EWW

[Sestak]

No.

[Lourdes]

Yes, and theirs is preferable.

[gottsu]

The question is, would I prefer European style suppression of free speech, which involved excessive interpretations of hate sppech laws

or would I prefer US style suppression of free speech which involved deliberately stopping people from bein able to vote; and the incumbent president leading a harassment campaign against journalists?

[mvd10]

Yeah lol, we shouldn't overreact. I've said a lot of (probably insulting?) things that according to our all-knowing Americans would have gotten me in jail here (obviously the sophisticated Americans would know that better than Europeans, we only know what our communist EUSSR overlords tell us amirite?).

Then again, I generally believe nearly all (if not all) forms of speech should be allowed and that's obviously not the case here. That 1 episode where an Austrian woman got convicted for stating an objective truth was very shameful.

[DavidB.]

Yes, there is, but it is a watered down version, and it is getting worse (less free). That said, it also very much depends on where in the EU. The situation is probably the worst in the UK and Germany and the best in Central and Eastern Europe.

On this rare issue, I agree with the American way more than with the European way.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

The situation is probably the worst in the UK and Germany and the best in Central and Eastern Europe.

This sentence would appear ironic at most points of postwar European history.

[DavidB.]

The situation is probably the worst in the UK and Germany and the best in Central and Eastern Europe.

This sentence would appear ironic at most points of postwar European history.

Funny, isn't it? The exact same goes for the situation for Jews these days. Just as ironic, perhaps.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

The situation is probably the worst in the UK and Germany and the best in Central and Eastern Europe.

This sentence would appear ironic at most points of postwar European history.

Funny, isn't it? The exact same goes for the situation for Jews these days. Just as ironic, perhaps.

Is the situation of Jews in C/E Europe notably better than it was sixty years ago, and the situation in England/Germany declined?

[DavidB.]

The situation is probably the worst in the UK and Germany and the best in Central and Eastern Europe.

This sentence would appear ironic at most points of postwar European history.

Funny, isn't it? The exact same goes for the situation for Jews these days. Just as ironic, perhaps.

Is the situation of Jews in C/E Europe notably better than it was sixty years ago, and the situation in England/Germany declined?

Absolutely. Being Jewish is now "cool" in parts of Moscow, and while general antisemitic sentiments are perhaps more widespread among the population in Central and Eastern Europe than among the native population of Western Europe, these people are much less likely to act on these sentiments than antisemites in the West. Both leftist (BDS) and Islamist antisemitism are unheard of in the East. Meanwhile, far-right, far-left and Islamist antisemitism are all on the rise in the West.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

The situation is probably the worst in the UK and Germany and the best in Central and Eastern Europe.

This sentence would appear ironic at most points of postwar European history.

Funny, isn't it? The exact same goes for the situation for Jews these days. Just as ironic, perhaps.

Is the situation of Jews in C/E Europe notably better than it was sixty years ago, and the situation in England/Germany declined?

Absolutely. Being Jewish is now "cool" in parts of Moscow, and while general antisemitic sentiments are perhaps more widespread among the population in Central and Eastern Europe than among the native population of Western Europe, these people are much less likely to act on these sentiments than antisemites in the West. Both leftist (BDS) and Islamist antisemitism are unheard of in the East. Meanwhile, far-right, far-left and Islamist antisemitism are all on the rise in the West.

After I made the post, I remembered the situation with extremists in the UK and Germany, but what you said about Moscow is genuinely surprising. I'd heard there was an exodus of Jews from Ukraine after 1991 and had assumed it was linked to the outbreak of antisemitism following the USSR's collapse.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Article 10

Section 1:  You have FREEDOM OF SPEECH!

Section 2:  Just kidding!  Got you good you f**ker!

[Former President tack50]

Yes, but it's watered down compared to the US. I do think there should be some restrictions to freedom of speech, most notably supporting terrorism, encouraging crimes and violence, threats, libel and slander for the most part.

I'd say the US laws are too lenient while the European laws are too strict, though between the 2 I'd probably pick the American ones.