CBS News is having a banner day with respect to Freedom of Expression, isn’t it? Earlier tonight we covered the bizarre (and historically wrong) claim by Margaret Brennan that free expression led to the Holocaust. Now we learn that CBS’ 60 Minutes aired a whole segment giving Germany a ‘Lewinsky’ for suppressing freedom of speech. Here are some segments from it:
More and more German police operations against hate speech online pic.twitter.com/KxsH93ES1B
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) February 17, 2025
And right before a German election, no less.
Here they are talking to a panel of fascist creep prosecutors:
CBS 60 Minutes travel to Germany to find out more about their hate speech and slander laws.
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) February 17, 2025
Here they are discussing with prosecutors specializing on the topics. pic.twitter.com/80FgQj4Rf4
But really, if you want to get the full effect, nothing beats the full segment, which is linked here:
Renate Künast, a German politician of 40 years, says she began receiving threats and hate-filled comments online after a false Facebook post spread online. She sued Facebook — and won. Facebook is appealing. https://t.co/w4q7bu3lni pic.twitter.com/q6pnixiod3
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) February 17, 2025
Yes, there is video in the post, and feel free to view it, but we sat and listened to the entire thirteen-minute presentation that you can only see at the link to CBS' website and it is completely horrifying. And the most horrifying thing is how American ‘journalist’ Sharyn Alfonsi basically is playing cheerleader for all of this. This is not simply a neutral presentation and letting people decide. Indeed, she didn't interview a single advocate of Freedom of Expression. And it certainly isn’t condemning this fascist behavior. Indeed, we caught Alfonsi saying things in support of censorship. For instance, when discussing censorship with the three German prosecutors, the Alfonsi discusses German laws prohibiting the display of Nazi symbols and making it illegal to deny the holocaust saying of those laws ‘that’s fair.’ Later on, she discusses accusations of ‘excessive censorship’ clearly indicating to her that some censorship is fine with her.
Recommended
Bear in mind, three fifths of the Indiana Jones movies display Nazi symbols. Indeed, for decades the Castle Wolfenstein video game series—involving an American or allied soldier killing Nazis by the thousands—was prohibited in Germany because they displayed Nazi symbols (as you killed Nazis). And while we don’t believe anyone should actually deny the holocaust happened, you are not going to get rid of holocaust denial by making it a crime. Then the deniers will will just say ‘see? If it really happened, they would be willing to debate it!’ Instead, the way you deal with it is by actually letting it be debated.
Some more snippets from the article and video:
As prosecutors explain it, the German constitution protects free speech, but not hate speech. And here's where it gets tricky: German law prohibits speech that could incite hatred or is deemed insulting.
And the rule against insulting is taken to particularly ridiculous lengths:
It was a 2021 case involving Andy Grote, a local politician, that captured the country's attention. Grote complained about a tweet that called him a ‘pimmel,’ a German word for the male anatomy. His complaint triggered a police raid and accusations of excessive censorship by the government.
As prosecutors explained to ‘60 Minutes’ correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, in Germany it's OK to debate politics online, but it can be a crime to call anyone a pimmel, even a politician.
A little googling tells me that pimmel translates pretty much to calling a person a dick. Calling a politician a dick now and then is not only a right, but occasionally it is a solemn duty.
The article lists several supporters and enforcers of these fascist laws: Matthäus Fink, Svenja Meininghaus and Frank-Michael Laue as prosecutors supporting this, Josephine Ballon as head of an anti-free-speech ‘human rights organization’ (Good Lord that is Orwellian) and Renate Künast as a politician who is big mad that people insulted her online, calling her ugly and old. This author says this to Fink, Meininghaus, Laue, Ballon, and Künast: You are a bunch of fascist pimmels.
And this author doesn’t care if we broke their stupid fascist laws by saying it.
Ms. Ballon of the ‘human rights organization’ HateAid deserves in particular to be called out.
“Free speech needs boundaries… Without boundaries, a very small group of people can rely on endless freedom to say anything that they want, while everyone else is scared and intimidated,” says Josephine Ballon, CEO of HateAid. https://t.co/YjlBa7YJ3s pic.twitter.com/xqI88oiiO2
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) February 17, 2025
Notice she says that ‘already half of the Internet users in Germany are afraid to express their political opinions, and they rarely participate in public debates anymore.’ She says this as if people like her aren’t the source of that fear. If we lived in Germany, we would be much more worried about a pre-dawn raid that takes away our ability to communicate with the world than someone calling us a pimmel.
“Free speech needs boundaries“ is the single most moronic statement in history. Something free means no boundaries.
— George (@BehizyTweets) February 17, 2025
Can you explain to me, slowly, what “online violence” is
— Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber) February 17, 2025
Easy: Words that the pimmels in power don’t like.
Wait so Germans against civil rights — namely the right to speak freely — are treated as being on the side of the angels?
— Benjamin Weingarten (@bhweingarten) February 17, 2025
She fails to see the irony of half of German Internet users being afraid to speak their mind online
— Josh Peterson (@jdpeterson) February 17, 2025
Right?!?!?!?!?!????
Leave it to 60 Minutes to go from grossly editing Kamala's interview to interfere with an election to advocating for 1984 Orwellian-style thought police.
— Birdie (@LilBirdie210) February 17, 2025
We are reluctant to call anyone the enemy of the people, but people like this in the press are exactly that. Anyone who advocates that the people get locked up for expressing viewpoints they disagree with are their enemies.
https://t.co/AUJu6yxkkU pic.twitter.com/eKL1XGY88E
— Jenny (@Jenny_IDLYITW) February 17, 2025
Yikes.
Do you even hear yourselves? https://t.co/RvesjJ2VWp
— Amy Curtis 🇮🇱 (@RantyAmyCurtis) February 17, 2025
We have truly come to believe that few people think they are actually bad people. Even Hitler himself thought he would be revered for centuries as the hero of the German people. So, to answer Amy’s question, they not only hear themselves, they are proud of what they are saying.
"Free speech needs boundaries"
— Physics Geek (@physicsgeek) February 17, 2025
Shut up, you totalitarian leftist bint. https://t.co/fB54c0Nfmi
Media org comes out against 1st amendment rights https://t.co/9xM0B2Va8m
— Enguerrand VII de Coucy (@ingelramdecoucy) February 17, 2025
That’s sadly old news. Pretty much ever since Trump won in 2016, the legacy media has made a hard turn against Freedom of Expression because they became convinced that if they censored just a little harder, Trump would have lost. Naturally, this accelerated after January 6, 2021, when the Reichstag was burned the Capitol Building was attacked in a riot.
Just by the name and without even looking you can tell that ‘HateAid’ is a government cutout that functions as part of the European state-NGO surveillance apparatus and is led by malevolent midwits. https://t.co/P6f5L0mngG
— Coddled affluent professional (@feelsdesperate) February 17, 2025
We legit wonder if they are getting money from USAID.
Same person here who deceptively edited an interaction with Ron DeSantis: https://t.co/BzktjPXAv9
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) February 17, 2025
You three d-bags are the most pathetic wannabe Nazis ever. I hope many people in Germany see this.
— MAZE (@mazemoore) February 17, 2025
He is referring to the three pimmel prosecutors.
Serious question: If we live in America and insult German politicians, what are the ramifications?
— Brick Suit (@Brick_Suit) February 17, 2025
Because I really want to insult some German politicians.
Honestly, maybe we need an ‘Everybody Insult a German Politician Day.’
Tell us what they said so we can say it too
— Douglas Carswell🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@DouglasCarswell) February 17, 2025
Exactly.
The Germans are so shook from the atrocities they committed and supported during WW2 that they are now going as far away from it as they can.
— QueensDadTriumphant🇺🇸 (@WindarkD3) February 17, 2025
Except suppressing speech is partially how they got to those atrocities in the first place.
60 Minutes travels to Germany to learn the true meaning of freedom of speech and press. https://t.co/WR229kYvW8
— Randy Barnett (@RandyEBarnett) February 17, 2025
Nearly half a million Americans gave their lives for this? https://t.co/hvK0Zsoe5W
— Hans Mahncke (@HansMahncke) February 17, 2025
YES!!! This! That is a bigger insult to our fallen heroes than calling someone a pimmel.
Sorry, didn't D.C's most annoying residents just attack Vice President Vance for saying countries like Germany don't have free speech anymore?
— Alex Pfeiffer (@Pfeiffer47) February 17, 2025
This aired on 60 Minutes tonight. https://t.co/LE9QznDY70
We could be wrong, but we don’t think they were denying it: They were upset at Vance for pointing it out.
Listen to this and understand that if the United States fails, freedom fails for all of humanity. https://t.co/jLmhWIPHIh
— Vinny D'Agostino (@proofofwork1) February 17, 2025
Just like in Soviet times, 1/2 of the German people will be spying on the other 1/2.
— Surtur (@Surtur) February 17, 2025
And we think this one is interesting because he very well might be defying this law:
Moment, im aufgeweckten Deutschland ist es illegal, sich im Internet über jemanden lustig zu machen oder alberne, beleidigende Dinge zu posten. Aber die deutsche Regierung importiert radikale, unkontrollierte Dschihadisten im Militäralter, die einfach nur töten und die deutsche… https://t.co/dsCWEwrRyR
— FelixTheTrencher (@FelixTheHome) February 17, 2025
According to Google Translate, he wrote this in German:
Wait, in woke Germany it is illegal to make fun of someone on the internet or post silly, offensive things. But the German government imports radical, uncontrolled, military-age jihadists who just want to kill and destroy German culture. And the stupid German police actually believe in this ideology? #polizei #Deutschlandreise
If he is writing this in Germany, we only have one question: How do you walk around with testicles that large?
I genuinely don't understand what they think they are doing here
— PoIiMath (@politicalmath) February 17, 2025
Are they really saying they want Donald Trump to be in charge of what you're allowed to say online? Should we make "Gulf of Mexico" hate speech? https://t.co/48ui4M1etU
PoliMath is hitting on one of the weirdest features of these pushes toward fascism. They complain that Trump is a wannabe dictator … and then turn around and say that he should have the power to censor them and take away their guns. How does that even compute?
Finally:
I admit, it does sound more appropriate with the German accent attached. https://t.co/8IPQ5sHKAR
— David Reaboi, Late Republic Nonsense (@davereaboi) February 17, 2025
The pimmels running the prosecutors' offices in Germany are probably already drafting charges against Reaboi for that crack.
Heh.
RELATED: WATCH: CBS News' Margaret Brennan Says Free Speech Caused the Holocaust
'Bollywood Thirst Traps:' Iowahawk Roasts a Racist for Attacking J.D. Vance’s Family as Only He Can
Joe Biden’s Potential Incompetence Threatens Chaos in Our System (And We Should Embrace the Chaos)
Ana Navarro-Cárdenas Gets Wrecked on Bad Pardon History (And Let’s Talk about Hunter’s Pardon)
Join the conversation as a VIP Member