Re:Using the “Z” symbol could lead to prosecution in two Ger...
by ls15 on Monday March 28, 2022 @04:07PM
(#30834966)
> This might be difficult for Americans to understand, but the freedom of speech has certain lines that cannot be crossed in Europe, and it's mostly about clearly hateful symbols and/or words. You just can't put a swastika on your sleeve and expect no repercussions in Germany, like it or not.
As a German: It is worth noting, that the swastika is not only a nazi symbol (Hakenkreuz), but an ancient religious icon in Indic religions and it is commonly used across Asia to this day without symbolizing nazism. The "Z" symbol is coincidentally also a letter and a symbol that I played with as a kid when I was a Zorro fan. No Kremlin-Connection or Soviet-Ideology, I swear!
I think that banning such symbols while ignoring the context is ignorant and pointless, because A) it criminalizes non-nazi use and B) it is easily evaded by using drop-in replacements that everyone in the nazi scene knows, but that aren't banned, such as "88".
As a German: It is worth noting, that the swastika is not only a nazi symbol (Hakenkreuz), but an ancient religious icon in Indic religions and it is commonly used across Asia to this day without symbolizing nazism. The "Z" symbol is coincidentally also a letter and a symbol that I played with as a kid when I was a Zorro fan. No Kremlin-Connection or Soviet-Ideology, I swear!
I think that banning such symbols while ignoring the context is ignorant and pointless, because A) it criminalizes non-nazi use and B) it is easily evaded by using drop-in replacements that everyone in the nazi scene knows, but that aren't banned, such as "88".
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rechtsextreme_Symbole_und_Zeic...