Weird to read something from an unknown (to me) organization which claims censorship in Germany when I as a German can't recall any instances in the last thirty years which I would consider censored in Germany.
Like I mean yes Doom was censored as a game due to gore/violence. But what else?
Have to check the report.
But the thing is: Censorship is not the issue in Germany. Disinformation is. We get too much bullshit information unhindered which causes chaos.
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After a short skim of the report. It takes the angle that Germany's attempt to fight online hatespeech and disinformation would stifle speech and takes concern with paltry sums such as 30-50m spend annually to fight hate speech online. It all sounds pretty ridiculous to me when you consider that Cambridge Analytica doesn't even appear in the report as one of the wake-up calls to European countries that social media has become weaponized to attack democracies and influence elections. This isn't about free speech for Germans in Germany but how can we can keep Chinese interest through TikTok, Russian propaganda through X and comment sections and other foreign influences at bay?
Honestly? Good. We can't just let propagandists from Russia or anywhere else ruin our democracies. When I look in comment sections online on mass platforms (think Facebook, Instagram, etc.) the amount of hate is unreal. The sheer quantity doesn't look organic at all. Even though these opinions are certainly shared by many real people, I suspect a lot of it is bots and propaganda. A bit of modern McCarthyism might be necessary.
As a German, I currently don’t see any meaningful censorship via legislation. That said I do see censorship in practicality via public opinion, shaming and hate against you if you speak out against "mainstream" opinion. That said, a lot of the institutions listed here are actually, at least in principle, made to conquer that, not make it worse. And even if I don’t really see them succeeding at making it better I also don’t see them making it worse…
It should be alarming how pervasive these efforts have become, especially given Germany's history. There's a near-total lack of public awareness and media opposition on... a number of issues in Germany. Then again, there's probably a lot of Germans who love this.
I don't know about their methodology, but as a German, I get the feeling that the project is rather vague.
For example, I would have liked to see more specifics on what they define as censorship in terms of scope.
Mainstream discourse in Germany is very conservative when it comes to defining censorship. They would hardly name de-ranking, deplatforming, intimidation, exclusion from the financial system, or even full control of information by private organizations as censorship. Government-enacted media bans, such as the Commission banning Russian state media, are rarely viewed as censorship by Germans. ( https://www.politico.eu/article/russia-rt-sputnik-illegal-eu... )
I'm not trying to make a value statement in one direction or the other, but if your communication product addresses a market or seeks to tie into public discourse, it should be in touch with its concepts.
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[ 5.9 ms ] story [ 30.7 ms ] threadLike I mean yes Doom was censored as a game due to gore/violence. But what else?
Have to check the report.
But the thing is: Censorship is not the issue in Germany. Disinformation is. We get too much bullshit information unhindered which causes chaos.
--
After a short skim of the report. It takes the angle that Germany's attempt to fight online hatespeech and disinformation would stifle speech and takes concern with paltry sums such as 30-50m spend annually to fight hate speech online. It all sounds pretty ridiculous to me when you consider that Cambridge Analytica doesn't even appear in the report as one of the wake-up calls to European countries that social media has become weaponized to attack democracies and influence elections. This isn't about free speech for Germans in Germany but how can we can keep Chinese interest through TikTok, Russian propaganda through X and comment sections and other foreign influences at bay?
For example, I would have liked to see more specifics on what they define as censorship in terms of scope.
Mainstream discourse in Germany is very conservative when it comes to defining censorship. They would hardly name de-ranking, deplatforming, intimidation, exclusion from the financial system, or even full control of information by private organizations as censorship. Government-enacted media bans, such as the Commission banning Russian state media, are rarely viewed as censorship by Germans. ( https://www.politico.eu/article/russia-rt-sputnik-illegal-eu... )
I'm not trying to make a value statement in one direction or the other, but if your communication product addresses a market or seeks to tie into public discourse, it should be in touch with its concepts.