The US CBS recently reported on how German police are conducting searches and raids against citizens suspected of committing so-called free speech offenses on the internet – for example, by sharing allegedly racist jokes or satirical cartoons.
While German officials argue that the speech must be punished to protect German democracy, US Vice President JD Vance calls the action “Orwellian” and “lunacy” and calls on the West to distance itself from the repression.
In a report for the news program 60 Minutes, CBS journalists followed German police during a search in northwestern Germany.
– 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, explains the show’s host Sharyn Alfonsi.
– Prosecutors allege that these electronic devices may have been used to commit a crime: posting a racist cartoon online, she continues.
Thousands of investigations
Unlike the United States, where the First Amendment to the Constitution protects citizens from arrest for “hate speech”, Germany has very strict laws against such speech. According to German prosecutors, there are currently as many as 16 specialized police teams monitoring “hate speech” on the internet, with around 3,500 investigations per year.
– In the last four years, my unit has received 750 convictions for speech offenses, prosecutor Frank-Michael Laue told the channel.
Prosecutor Dr. Matthäus Fink says many of those arrested for internet postings thought their posts were protected by freedom of speech.
– And we say: No, you have free speech aswell, but it also has its limits, he points out.
According to German prosecutors, citizens can be jailed for public insults – including against politicians – spreading slander as well as threats of violence, false quotes or sharing “lies” online. However, in most cases, offenders are fined and often have their electronic devices confiscated.
– Comments like ‘you’re a fucking pig’, such words have nothing to do with a political discussion or a contribution to the debate, Fink argues.
“The threat comes from within”
The authorities also have access to special software to track anonymous users who violate opinion laws, as well as government databases to identify them.
The report on Germany’s censorship came days after US Vice President JD Vance criticized European countries, including Germany, for abandoning free speech.
– The threat that I worry the most about vis-a-vis Europe is not Russia, it’s not China, it’s not any other external actor. What I worry about is the threat from within. The retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values: values shared with the United States of America, said Vance during the Munich Security Conference last week.
Vance also criticized the German political establishment for isolating the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which according to opinion polls is the country’s second largest party ahead of elections next week. Politicians in Germany have called for the party to be banned because of alleged extremism.
“Must reject this lunacy”
The vice-president’s statement provoked anger and dismay among German establishment politicians. Left-wing Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared that Germany “does not accept outsiders intervening in our democracy”.
Meanwhile, the American call to protect civil liberties in Europe also seems to have gained some support in Germany. For example, columnist Andreas Rosenfelder wrote in Die Welt that the German establishment’s dismissive attitude towards the vice-president’s criticism is “the real scandal”.
“They would do well in their own best interests to recognise [Vance’s] speech as an hour of truth instead of turning it into an enemy attack”, he wrote.
Insulting someone is not a crime, and criminalizing speech is going to put real strain on European-US relationships.
This is Orwellian, and everyone in Europe and the US must reject this lunacy. https://t.co/WZSifyDWMr
— JD Vance (@JDVance) February 17, 2025
In response to the CBS report, Mr. Vance repeated some of his criticisms on Monday:
“Insulting someone is not a crime, and criminalizing speech is going to put real strain on European-US relationships. This is Orwellian, and everyone in Europe and the US must reject this lunacy”, he urges.
