RuSsIaN bOt!!! lol
I know this is just a meme, but free speech has never been completely unrestricted. If I say (hypothetically of course) “I’m making specific plans to harm lots of innocent people for political purposes” I’ve just opened myself up to lawsuits and immediate arrest.
You also can’t commit fraud, slander, or false advertising with speech, yell fire in a crowded building, or use speech to incite any criminal actions.
At least in the US the restrictions are vastly overstated.
You can advocate for mass violence against innocent people. Define the entire group of innocent people as terrorists and you can call for violence against them. Call them Hamas and you will get away with it.
Terrorist is the magical word.
That entirely depends who those people are. If you said in the early 2000s say: I’m training to join the army to go kill some Iraqis to bring “freedom”, you’d never get in trouble.
Stochastic terrorism is a real thing though - and hate speech against a minority is one of the possible ways fascism can take root in a society.
Germany learned this the hard way how easy it is to overtake a country that was previously one of the most liberal and modern societies. That’s why hate speech against minorities and holocaust denial are forbidden and harshly punished here - and that’s probably one of the reasons why other countries in Europe had their far-right surges in recent years quite a bit earlier since russia had to be more creative about dividing the population
Advocating for violence and hate speech is fully protected. As long as it is against “terrorists”. Whether these people are evil is of little relevance.
You can publicly advocate for the killing of Sinwar or Putin. But not Netanyahu or Trump
You are also not allowed to support groups your government designates as terrorists. Once again; you can support Israeli violence. You cannot support Hamas violence. The past was no different. Supporting groups such as the ANC or the Vietcong was illegal. Because that is terrorism.
The government controls free speech. They simply added a middle man: the word “terrorism”.
