I'm not sure what that means when I see people say that.
Is it "People don't like it when I'm a dick so I have to hide when I do it?"
Because if it's not that, just say what you think. I'd like to think I do, in public with co-workers, etc. They judge me then by that and I kind of deserve their judgement (which ever way it goes).
For instance, just a few days ago, a very popular TikTokker doxxed a father and asked his followers to report that father to CPS to try to get his kids taken away for expressing an opinion that they didn't like. That opinion? That children can't consent. The TikTokker isn't in jail, and he didn't lose his platform or otherwise suffer any consequences, because even though he did an extremely evil thing, his opinion was aligned with the "politically correct", and the father's opinion was "politically incorrect".
There are many, many instances of this happening - I've both seen them online, and witnessed it personally.
If you haven't seen it yourself, you're probably in a social bubble.
Here in Australia since 2024 it is illegal to dox someone online and it is considered a criminal offence. So that father would have the ability to press charges against that Tiktoker. Might be challenging if one of them is outside of said country law.
I dox myself by using my real name, talk about where I live, my age, etc. — all the time. I like to think that also keeps me honest — keeps me from not posting something I wouldn't say to someone's face.
Haven't insults like that been illegal in Germany since the 1800s? This hardly seems new. It's just how the Germans like to run their laws.
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.
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.
Oh you absolutely do. You might not have the authority to change them, but anyone is welcome to criticize the intent or impact of any law in any country at any time.
Besides, Americans have decided that it's legal for Americans to argue about German laws, so you actually don't get to criticize it when they do.
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
> 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.
EU police -> EU member state police force.
A bit wordy. I know there isn't a EU police force. Just like there will never be EU bonds (see what I did there?)
"There is in fact a difference between making fun of your local politicians and making fun of a foreign dictator."
Trump is a foreign dictator? He is not mocked ruthlessly in EU media?
Anyway, I'm not impressed by local media mocking foreign leaders for the same reason I prefer that the CCP spy on my (personal) devices than the FBI: jurisdiction.
But, go ahead, call one of your ministers an idiot or a pimmel under your real name.
And don't give me the BS "the charges were dropped": being criminally charged is scary, stressful and expensive.