The Meinunsfreiheit 'Gimmick'

First to explain Meinunsfreiheit.....it's a German word, and it comes basically to mean freedom of expression or freedom of speech.

Last year, the German political machine got all hyped up and worried about fake news and public commentary via the internet in Germany.  They talked about the thousands of stories or commentary which appeared and the ill effect on society.

So was created the 'gimmick' of a threat on social media.  A hefty fine if you didn't remove the fake news or public commentary item within twenty four hours.  The fine on the company?  Fifty million Euro.

So the system to halt fake news and illegal commentary has been in effect for 60 days now.  There was great talk of thousands being noted.  So far?  205 since day one.  That's probably around one-percent of one-percent of what they expected.

Public reaction?  If you go and view the commentary area of ARD (public TV), the political folks are criticized in a hefty way. Some of the comments are blunt....this effort to handle the internet companies and the public commentary is more or less a censorship effort.

You can do the math with the 205 in 60 days....thus figuring as we arrive at 1 January, the figure for 2018 will be around 1,200 total.  Public ridicule to occur?  Some will ask if the whole law was necessary and the cost factor upon the government and the companies.  As for this going away?  I see this around for roughly four to six years before the government admits it was a bold but wasted effort.  Eventually, some court challenge will occur and the justice system will have to ask a few questions that the political folks can't answer.