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Two German courts now hold Google liable for what its AI overviews say (the-decoder.com)
submitted 3 days ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 8 points 2 days ago (12 children)

I think this is more because to them, Google is a foreign entity requiring more regulation just like how the US regulates TikTok and how China regulates US companies.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 days ago (10 children)

    German society has weaker "Free Speech" but stronger "Right to Dignity" than USA. In fact, USA doesn't have "right to dignity".

    This means that, for example, its illegal to insult someone in public. Because that's an attack on their dignity. This causes issues for negative reviews (which is more easily removed in Germany than USA). But Germans are closer to sanity when it comes to limits of free speech for sure.

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  • [–] -5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (9 children)

    There's no right to free speech in Germany either. At least not in the sense that USA has.

    PS: parent has edited comment and we are align with that

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  • [–] 4 points 2 days ago (6 children)

    What? It's written in Germany's constitution (The "Grundgesetz", literally "Basic law") in article 5 that "Every person shall have the right freely to express and disseminate his opinions in speech, writing and pictures".

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  • [–] 4 points 2 days ago (2 children)

    Case law makes a big difference here. Germany allows a number of significant exceptions and limitations to freedom of expression, while the right is closer to absolute in the USA.

    • In the USA, photographing people in public places and publishing those photographs without permission is legal, and cannot be made illegal without changing the constitution. It is mostly illegal to publish photographs of people without permission in Germany, even if they were taken in public.
    • Making true statements about a person, even if they're about something intimate or intended to diminish the person's social standing is legal in the USA unless there's a specific obligation of confidentiality, such as between a doctor and patient. Germany punishes releasing intimate information and presenting information in a way that encourages discrimination.
    • Insults that do not amount to false statements of fact are protected speech in the USA. Insults are a crime in Germany.
    • Hate speech is protected in the USA and criminal in Germany.
    • Making false statements about history is protected in the USA. Holocaust denial and the like is criminal in Germany.

    So no, Germany does not have a right to free speech in the sense that the USA does. One significant structural difference is that the US constitution expresses it as a negative right: it starts with "Congress shall make no law" and lists several topics the government may not regulate. The German Grundgesetz establishes positive rights to both freedom of expression and dignity, implying that the government must actively protect both and resolve conflicts between them.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 day ago (1 child)

    Insults are a crime in Germany.

    Keep in mind that someone actually has to go sue for that, it's usually not automatic, unless you do it right in front of a police officer trying to insult some public figure. In front of court it's weighed against freedom of expression. So there are plenty of examples were the "insult" becomes a "matter of fact". Like for example the matter of fact that AfD politician Bernd Höcke is a Nazi.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 day ago

    A significant chance of having to defend one's self in court is enough to keep most people from doing a thing. That's a major inconvenience, expense, and risk of serious consequences. It surely has a chilling effect on speech, or a civilizing effect on public discourse, depending on your perspective.

    In the USA, I can write online that Trump advisor Stephen Miller is a Nazi, an asshole, and a xenophobe, and that I want him to kill himself, with no legal risk whatsoever. Nazi is the only one of those that even comes close to having an objective test for truth, which is actually what makes the statement protected under US law. If I called him a rapist or an embezzler, he might be able to sue for defamation.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 days ago (1 child)

    The right to free speech in USA is quite strong and superseds most restrictions. Even opinions are treated as protected speech and libel/slander requires proving intent as well as prior knowledge that the information is false.

    Compared to that, most countries with a right to speech come with responsibility and have restrictions (specially against religious/incendiary/hate speech or a mix of them as well as falsehoods such as Holocaust denial) on what you can do with your speech.

    In USA, one (specially the 'right' ones) can basically go "I'm not touching you" and get into someone's face in name of speech while that is a clear incursion into ones private space in other countries

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  • [–] 2 points 2 days ago

    The freedom of speech in the USA is very individualistic, just like everything else. Little to no things are thought of in the sense of a community, it's all about what's in it for the individual. Traffic is even more car-centric than in Europe. Pure capitalism without a real safety net, because the individual may benefit from it by becoming a millionaire.

    In Europe, the sense for community is much stronger, which is also reflected in how freedom of speech is protected in law; Express your thoughts freely, but do not impair the rights of other citizens.

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