>> Germany [..] has relatively similar free speech rights to the US or other western countries.
At least since NetzDG was passed I'm not sure it's quite that simple.
Google[0] says this about the NetzDG:
"The Network Enforcement Law (NetzDG) requires social networks with more than 2 million registered users in Germany to exercise a local take down of “obviously illegal” content [..] To qualify for a removal under NetzDG, content needs to fall under one of the 22 criminal statutes in the German criminal code to which NetzDG refers."
Politico[1] said this
"Titanic, a German satirical magazine, was similarly barred after parodying anti-Muslim comments on its own Twitter account"
[0] https://transparencyreport.google.com/netzdg/youtube
[1] https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-hate-speech-netzdg-f...