jamyskis: You know about the "Beer Hall Putsch" that acted as the precursor to WW2? Beer halls at that time were basically the Facebook of today: people would go there to rant about political and social problems that they really had no idea about. The Nazis spent their early days there ranting against the government and Jews before they organised to attempt a coup.

The point was that Hitler knew very well that "speech" and propaganda were more effective tools than force and disregard for the law. Hitler gained power - initially legitimately I might add - through populism, propaganda and skilful manipulation. 20 years later, six million Jews were dead.

jamyskis: For the largest part, the biggest critics of "censorship of free speech" in relation to hate speech are the very ones that perpetrate the actual hate speech in the first place. You know, the ones that would have us all believe that there's some kind of mass Jewish conspiracy, that all Muslims are complicit in a plot to islamise Europe and the US, that gays have some kind of "agenda" and that it is a "lifestyle", and that women's rights are just a conspiracy to emasculate men.

Facebook, Twitter and Google in particular have been remarkably lax in keeping hate speech under control, which is why far-right, Islamic extremist and gender extremist groups have been allow to widely use Facebook and Twitter in particular as propaganda platforms (the far left as well, but they're more guilty of inciting violence against political interests - capitalism and the far right mostly - as opposed to against races, religions or genders).

I just hope that in the implementation of these rules, they don't go too far in the other direction by suppressing legitimate political discussion in an excess of caution (mind you, actual legitimate political discussion rarely finds a home on online forums - that's usually the reserve of RL).

For the most part, I find the EC's new regulations long-overdue, and I think it's important to mandate the removal of hate speech. I am a little concerned, however, about the role of these tech companies in promoting "counter-narratives". I find such counter-narratives important, but it's not the role of these platforms to adopt an overarching political position outside of the extremes, and it fails to recognise that views are rarely black and white. If common sense prevails, they'll keep such "counter-narratives" within the realm of providing evidence that propaganda is false or misleading (Hoax Slayers for instance) and not adopt a specific political position.

I also hope that these rules will cover the full gamut of hate speech: Islamophobia from the far right; misogyny from the far right, islamists and so-called "men's rights" groups, anti-semitism from the far left, far right and islamists, general racism from the far right, and misandry from extreme feminists.

jamyskis: All the EC has done is mandate that these tech companies act in accordance with member states' individual hate speech legislation and hold social media site responsible for the posts of their users. Of course, the bar defining hate speech varies from country to country.

jamyskis: Lutz Bachmann did eventually get convicted for incitement to hatred for his Facebook post, although he ultimately only got what amounted to a slap on the wrists by the courts.

ShadowAngel.207: muslim subhumans

WBGhiro: Remember kids if you put enough effort into posting stupid shit on facebook, you too can become the next hitler!

ShadowAngel.207: I think Video games are the smallest problem regarding censorship and things like that.

catpower1980: OP is American, enough said ;)

Vainamoinen: I guess they won't even screen for clear cut national socialist terminology.

jamyskis: I also hope that these rules will cover the full gamut of hate speech: Islamophobia from the far right; misogyny from the far right, islamists and so-called "men's rights" groups, anti-semitism from the far left, far right and islamists, general racism from the far right, and misandry from extreme feminists.

paladin181: Which is why, being an American myself, I asked for people affected by these changes to speak up. I don't care much what other Americans think about rules and regulations in the EU. I don't care what someone, who can't even post a link to an article or anything about the subject thinks; someone who isn't actually affected but rather is outraged for others. That's my personal preference, true. I just wanted to get a better picture of what's actually happening. :D

paladin181: Thankfully for me, at least, those policies would NEVER fly here and the backlash would be over the top.

MaximumBunny: I don't think anyone needs to hear anything from politically correct feminazis. The problem is that we hear too much from them even though they cry about never getting a voice. :P

ET3D: True. Once Donald Trump gets elected, hate speech will be mandatory.