German MPs vote for new law to fine social media companies over illegal content

Re:German MPs vote for new law to fine social media companie... by tmalsburg2 on Friday June 30, 2017 @09:19AM (#14670498)

> If I recall correctly, the Swastika is banned in Germany, [...] Context matters, you know.

Exactly, and that's the reason why you can use the Swastika as much as you want in Germany when the context makes clear that you're not using it for political purposes. These silly strawmen arguments do not help the discussion.

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Re:German MPs vote for new law to fine social media companie... by somecontext on Friday June 30, 2017 @09:57PM (#14674884)

For some context, it appears the law in question is the German Strafgesetzbuch (Criminal Code) section 86a. Wikipedia believes the use of a swastika (as a representation of the Nazi party) is banned in all contexts except "art or science, research or teaching".

This mostly agrees with the text of the law, which appears to include a provision translating to "... shall not be applicable if the means of propaganda or the act serves to further civil enlightenment, to avert unconstitutional aims, to promote art or science, research or teaching, reporting about current historical events or similar purposes."

Reporting on the law suggests that the purpose is much stronger than simply avoiding its political use, but also to "avert social habitation". In particular, it appears that its use in, say, a video game would in fact be illegal, as Ubisoft assumed with its 2014 release "South Park: The Stick of Truth".

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Re:German MPs vote for new law to fine social media companie... by skrebbel on Friday June 30, 2017 @01:49PM (#14672421)

Thanks, I was wrong about that one.

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