nik282000 4 hours ago

Anna's Archive and Sci-Hub. So despite their facade the German government is just as draconian as the US.

The government or even courts are not involved with these blocks.

dewey 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The main complaint about these blocks is that they are managed and decided on by private companies and _not_ by the government / law.

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crazygringo 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Despite what facade?

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easterncalculus 3 hours ago | parent [-]

The frequently repeated keystone lie that Europeans have equivalent or greater rights, freedoms, and protection from authoritarianism than Americans, which is and has always been objectively and completely false.

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oezi 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Well according to press freedom indices many European countries and the US are quite similarly ranked. Some countries better some countries worse.

Some countries have stronger institutions against dictatorships than others but unfortunately we have seen that even the US isn't immune and that slides auch as in Poland and Hungary are possible.

There is always hope that things can turn around (as in Poland even though the road is hard and there are setbacks)

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amarant 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Citation? Every democracy index I've ever heard of rates most of Europe as more democratic than the US. (Eastern Europe will typically be rated lower, all of the former USSR states seem to be struggling with various degrees of corruption or similar problems)

The most commonly used index for example:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist_Democracy_Index

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cedilla 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Well, when fascists are in power, paper won't help anyone. But at this point, as a European I enjoy enumerated human and civil rights from multiple constitutions and several international treaties, which are directly enforceable by courts at the state, national, and European level.

The human and civil rights guaranteed by the US constitution are a complete joke in comparison, and most of them are not guaranteed directly constitution, but by Supreme Court interpretation of vague 18th century law that can change at any time.

	▲	pessimizer an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		You seem to have missed the Bill of Rights. Which is odd, because whenever we tell you during online arguments that our rights are guaranteed, you all say that absolute rights are dumb and it's actually more sophisticated and European to not have them. Not that courts, legislators, and administrations haven't tried and succeeded in abridging them somewhat in any number of different ways for shorter or longer periods, but the text remains, and can always be referred to in the end. They have to abuse the language in order to abridge the Bill of Rights, and eventually that passes the point of absurdity. No such challenge in Europe. Every "right" is the right to do something unless it is not allowed.
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oezi 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Is it draconian that piracy sites aren't resolved by some ISPs' DNS?

Is it draconian if no Government entity is involved? And the penalty is unavailability?

I thought draconian implies that the punishment is much too high in relationship to the crime.

Maybe the whole affair is more dystopian rather than draconian: ISPs block access to media even though no law or government asked them to just so they have less hassle with rightholders.

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almostgotcaught 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> German government is just as draconian as the US

this is called "disinformation"

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pessimizer an hour ago | parent | next [-]

Will Germany be banning HN for not deleting it and sentencing nik282000 to a prison term then?

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like_any_other 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

They are considering banning the largest opposition party, are using wiretaps and informants against it [1], have banned (ban since lifted) a magazine [2], and opened a criminal investigation into someone calling a fat politician fat online [3]. They are openly planning even worse [4] (if you dislike the author, keep in mind every claim is sourced, so take it up with the sources).

[1] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/13/court-confirms-germ...

[2] https://www.dw.com/en/germany-compact-press-freedom-right-wi...

[3] https://www.foxnews.com/media/germany-started-criminal-inves...

[4] Germany announces wide-ranging plans to restrict the speech, travel and economic activity of political dissidents, in order to better control the "thought and speech patterns" of its own people - https://www.eugyppius.com/p/germany-announces-wide-ranging-p...

Edit as reply to nosianu, because I am "posting too fast":

> Liar. Some demand it - but it is not considered by those with the power to actually do it, not even close.

On Monday, the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), which is currently serving as the junior coalition partner in Berlin’s conservative-led government, voted unanimously to begin efforts to outlaw [AfD]. - https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/06/europe/germany-afd-ban-po...

The Jewish German intelligence chief trying to ban the AfD - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/12/09/jewish-ger...

I would not call the head of German intelligence and ruling coalition parties "not even close". Kindly save that liar label for yourself.

> The AfD happily participates in state and federal elections and is in the federal parliament (Bundestag).

"Considering" means they haven't done it yet. Some tried, but have not yet succeeded.

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amarant 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Largest opposition party?

It's a neo nazi terrorist group with a political wing!

There are 9 main parties in Germany, AfD doesn't even make top 10…

Your comment is like saying the US is shooting political dissidents, and then referring to Al-Qaida or ISIS.

	▲	like_any_other 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> It's a neo nazi terrorist group with a political wing! If you have a source showing AfD organized terrorist attacks, please present it. I could find no such thing. > There are 9 main parties in Germany, AfD doesn't even make top 10… In the 2025 elections, the largest party, the CDU, got 28.5% of the vote. The AfD came second with 20.8%: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Results_of_the_2025_German_fed... So you're simply lying.

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nosianu 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> They are considering banning the largest opposition party

Liar. Some demand it - but it is not considered by those with the power to actually do it, not even close. The AfD happily participates in state and federal elections and is in the federal parliament (Bundestag).

Why are you against freedom of speech??

People saying what they want is allowed! No action of that kind was or is taken. AfD and its members continues to participate in normal political life and getting elected, and they continue to participate in TV and media interviews.

What exactly is your complaint? You complain about some people's speech - while claiming to be for freedom of speech! Very peculiar.

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08766747563434 36 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

[dead]

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trelane 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I honestly cannot tell if this is serious, or irony, or even meta-irony.

	▲	oezi 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		If I understand it right, then OP likely believes that Germany has a draconian regime when it comes to freedom of speech (which is objectively just ridiculous give or take some German nuances). OP thus wants to make fun of those (such as me) who are puzzled by a statement that Germany could be considered a draconian state with regards to freedom of speech. It is hard to engage OP because he likely isn't German and has no personal knowledge and experience at all if any of his speech would be censored in Germany. Calling OP disinformed maybe isn't quite correct, maybe misinformed would fit better.