Alexander Hohlfeld

Wahnhaft wehrhaft Im Namen der Demokratie schränken europäische Staaten zunehmend die Meinungsfreiheit ein. Doch der Schuss geht nach hinten los.

"Die eigentliche Frage lautet inzwischen: Ist Europas hartes Vorgehen gegen Meinungsäußerungen zu einer größeren Gefahr für die Demokratie geworden als die Extremisten, die es eindämmen soll? " @mchangama.bsky.social

www.ipg-journal.de/rubriken/dem...

Dutch Warning on Chatbots Echoes Trump Attacks on "Woke AI” | TechPolicy.Press In its effort to protect democracy from algorithms, Europe may erode the very freedom that sustains it, write Jacob Mchangama and Jordi Calvet-Bademunt.

Warnings that AI chatbots produce “biased” voting advice are fueling pressure for tighter controls on political outputs. Jacob Mchangama and Jordi Calvet-Bademunt warn that such moves could erode freedom of expression and pluralism.

Allensbach-Umfrage: Die Deutschen und die Freiheit Fast die Hälfte der Deutschen beklagt, dass man seine Meinung nicht mehr frei sagen könne. Doch ihr eigenes Verhältnis zur Freiheit ist widersprüchlich.

Just 46% of Germans feel free to voice their opinions, while over 50% support banning certain unpopular ones. A recent poll by the Allensbach Institute shows a troubling climate for free expression in Germany

www.faz.net/aktuell/poli...

Opfer des Verfassungsschutzes: Der Staatsfeind, der keiner war 16 Monate lang erhielt ein Professor in Hessen Lehrverbot, weil ihn der Verfassungsschutz dem „Rechtsextremismus“ zuordnete. Die Geschichte einer Peinigung.

A professor in Germany was banned from teaching for 16 months after the domestic intelligence service wrongly classified him as a “right-wing extremist” based solely on guilt by association:
www.faz.net/aktuell/poli...

German "militant democracy" is on a dangerous path

JuMiKo: Politikerbeleidigung auf Journalisten ausweiten Das Saarland will Angriffe auf Medienschaffende zielgerichteter im StGB ahnden. Angeregt wird, die Politikerbeleidigung auf Journalisten auszudehnen.

"Unter anderem soll der umstrittene Tatbestand der Politikerbeleidigung auf Journalisten ausgedehnt werden"

Bitte, bitte liebe Zentristen, hört endlich auf mit diesem furchtbaren Quatsch, ihr macht alles nur noch schlimmer

www.lto.de/recht/nachri...

wenn sich etwas tatsächlich so verhält, wie einer behauptet, dass es sich verhält, dann „insinuiert“ er eigentlich gar nicht, oder?

Thanks!

fyi @davidsullivan.bsky.social

📊 The #DSA data access portal is live, and VLOPs/VLOSEs have begun publishing their data catalogues.
Trying to collect the links again: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

German “hate speech” laws are already troubling, but their enforcement has become alarmingly disproportionate, unconstitutional, and incompatible with a free society, writes Affiliate Fellow @alhohlfeld.bsky.social.

Punishment Before Trial? 'Hate Speech' Raids in Germany German “hate speech” laws are already troubling, but their enforcement has become alarmingly disproportionate, unconstitutional, and incompatible with a free society.

German “hate speech” laws are already troubling, but their enforcement has become alarmingly disproportionate, unconstitutional, and incompatible with a free society. When investigation becomes punishment, the rule of law itself is at risk. Check out my latest blog post at @futurefreespeech.org

A dangerous trend continues www.politico.eu/article/germ...

Humans are humans on TikTok too.

It's not available yet, will start at the end of this month

We are alarmed by reports that Germany is on the verge of a catastrophic about-face, reversing its longstanding and principled opposition to the EU’s Chat Control proposal which, if passed, could spell the end of the right to privacy in Europe. signal.org/blog/pdfs/ge...

“Every counterrevolution, like every revolution, begins by being afraid of its own people.”
—Hannah Arendt, On Revolution (1963) 🇩🇪

20 years ago, Denmark upheld free speech even when cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad sparked deadly protests.

But today, @mchangama.bsky.social says European democracies are increasingly choosing appeasement — and the violence hasn't stopped.

Those who point out falsehoods on their own side are assumed to be working for the enemy, because our hunter-gatherer brains struggle to comprehend that someone could genuinely care about the truth more than any tribe. This makes political movements hard to self-correct.

Free speech doesn’t belong to the left or the right. Both will claim it when it suits their purpose, and both will disavow it for the same reason. The only people who genuinely support free speech are those rare souls whose principles are strong enough to survive politics itself.

In a webinar today about the threats to expression in the U.S., I said the question was ultimately more about whether people would have the courage to fight for their rights than whether they would win those fights. You do not retain rights you willingly give up.

"I had friends say to me, look, we can oppose political violence without whitewashing this guy. I spent some time thinking about that over the weekend...and my reaction honestly is that it is too little to just say we oppose political violence."

Student acceptance of violence to silence speakers is at a record high.

In 2020, 1 in 5 students said violence was acceptable to stop a speaker. In 2025, that number is 1 in 3.

That’s a 79% increase in just five years. And it’s chilling.

Tweet from Ezra: In the last few years we've seen: - The plot to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer - The Storming of the Capitol and pipe bombs left at the RNC and DNC - The break-in to kidnap Nancy Pelosi and the brutal on Paul Pelosi - Multiple assassination attempts against Trump - The assassination of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband and the shooting of on State Senator John Hoffman and his wife - Luigi Mangione's assassination of Brian Thompson - The assassination of Charlie Kirk Political violence is contagious. It is spreading. It is not confined to one side or belief system. It should terrify us all. The foundation of a free society is the ability to participate in it without fear of violence. Political violence is always an attack against us all. You have to be so blind not to see that.

BREAKING: Charlie Kirk was shot during an event at Utah Valley University today. Details of the incident are still unfolding.

Political violence is never an acceptable response to speech. Free speech allows us to settle our differences peacefully and is essential to a free and democratic society.

This free-speech defender makes enemies left and right First Amendment lawyer Jenin Younes backed anti-vaccine activists against the Biden administration’s covid restrictions. Now she is ready to sue the Trump administration for suppressing free speech.

"Nobody ever says, 'We're censoring protected speech'...They say it's misinformation, or it's support of terrorism, or it's antithetical to American values."

"For pro-Palestinian activists, exercising academic freedom includes preventing Israeli colleagues from presenting their scientific findings [...]. In other words: politicized in this way, the concept of self-empowerment serves to violate the academic freedom of others"

Die konfuse Logik der politisierten Wissenschaft Die Politisierung der Wissenschaft läuft anders ab als früher. Um sie aufzuhalten, muss man verstehen, dass aktivistische Bestrebungen innerhalb der Wissenschaft und rechtspopulistischer Druck von auß...

Scientific activism "shares essential basic assumptions with its populist counterpart and thus plays into its hands" 💯
www.faz.net/aktuell/feui...

Bluesky is now blocking access to people in Mississippi due to the state's problematic age verification law. Thread (and attached blog post) have more details...

Unpacking the Risk of Misinformation: A Communication‐Based Critique A raft of authors argue that society is drowning in a sea of misinformation, disinformation, and fake news. Some claim we are living in a new world disorder, misinformation age, or post-truth era, fu...

🎯"the dominant approach since 2016 fundamentally misunderstands the nature of communication... researchers and policymakers ought to engage with the full complexity of communication processes, including the agency of messengers and audiences"