Facebook, Google, Twitter agree to delete hate speech in 24 hours: Germany

Free speech, European style.

If it's speech condoning or encouraging harm against others, then it should be removed. But if people are just voicing their opinions, even hateful opinions, then it doesn't take a genius to figure out that banning such speech makes the sentiment run deeper, and only offloads it to even less "tolerant" parts of the web, like 4chan.

Free speech, the correct way. In my opinion, of course.

(The following is not so much directed at you; I don't know you, after all. It's just that I need to rant, as always when Americans lecture us on free speech. "You" is not the personal you, but "you Americans on web forums")

Don't mistake your version of free speech for a canonical implementation.

Keep your hate speech and school shootings, be proud of it, and bury your dead.

We just happen to live in peace and don't need or want your constant superiority complex in our face.

Just remember, after WWII you had a wonderful opportunity to force your free speech on us. You deliberately chose to force something else on us. And had it written in our constitution. Because Nazis. Now don't you dare blame us for having it. You wanted us to not extend free speech to Nazis. You wanted us to defend our new constitution.

You don't get to come back after seventy-five years and ask us to please be nicer to Nazis. And Scientology. And whatnot.

Have you noticed how wherever you engage in nation building, you never implement your political system? How come? Isn't your system perfect? Maybe it's only for the enlightened American people and other peoples are too backwards and savage for that?

Okay, maybe Puerto Rico, which is almost an American state. They have your system, as well. Except... all their political organs serve at the US congress' pleasure. Very colonial.

It's great that you identify with your system. Really. But please enjoy it. Feel free to tell us how much you enjoy it. But stop disparaging others who disagree.

Thank you for writing this (and I say that as an American). We as a country are are gargantuan hypocrites about this whole thing; the idea of free speech in our Constitution--to say nothing of plenty of other privileges that we pretend are rights--is one of many things we don't pass on to the people we claim hegemony over.

We are tremendously bad at owning our shit. I wish we were better.

Now tell us what you really think.