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submitted 4 days ago by Rob200 to c/lgbtq_plus

Like to many people, the word freespeech might sound good, untill you run into hatespeech. While there isn't a widespread way to define this type of speech, I found a few terms that can help narrow things down. (speech that does not include hatespeech.)

  1. freespeech. Strictly protects you from 'government' censorship, however there may be limits. If not legally, then perhaps, you'l lose a few friends socially. Freespeech, is not always acceptable speech.

  2. responsible speech. Ok, so now we are at a term that helps to simplify things more toward the direction things are actually heading around the world lately. It's saying, make sure you are posting responsibly, and that your posts are not degrading nor attacking others. So, no to discriminatory and harmful language. Does it directly cover hatespeech? Not specifically, it's more so addressing the actual end result of the harm from user posts. Be responsible.

  3. Inclusive speech. Again, not directly addressing hatespeech, but rather indirectly. By asking for inclusive speech, it would vaguely, while not as specifically, just ask of you to keep your speech as inclusive. When referring to someones pronouns/gender, you'l want to be inclusive and not misgender, or miss pronounce a person in anyway.

Honestly, if you were to combine responsible speech and and responsible speech into a single term, combining their meaning you would actually have an actual singular term describing all this, (speech that does not include hatespeech.)

and what is expected socially. While both terms, do have some vagueness to them, combining them would still keep them vague. Having one term to describe expected social behavior would simplify any confusion from trolls or actual confused people.

While I and other might not think these things are confusing, too alot of people in the last decade+ these terms are new to them.

I'm not advocating for any changes, but I'm looking for some words that describe speech without the inclusion of hatespeech.

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[-] Kayday@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Not a German, but I watched a video recently that talked about their country's perspective on free speech, since that was in the news. Basically, it is interconnected with human rights, but that goes both ways. The Grundgesetz states:
"Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority... Every person shall have the right freely to express and disseminate his opinions in speech, writing and pictures and to inform himself without hindrance from generally acceptable sources. Freedom of the press and freedom of reporting by means of broadcast and films shall be guaranteed. There shall be no censorship... These rights shall find their limits in the provisions of general laws, in provisions for the protection of young persons and in the right to personal honour."

Importantly, Artikel 2 states that these and other freedoms extend "insofar as he does not violate the rights of others or offend against the constitutional order or the moral law."

This is similar to the notion of, "my right to swing my fist ends where your face begins." Maybe some Germans could chime in about this, but I wish Americans would adopt a more practical approach to "free speech." Your freedom to express yourself should end when it violates another's personal honour.

To answer your question, I think their word, "Meinungsäußerungsfreiheit," would be what you're looking for. Freedom to express your opinion, with the social understanding of not having a license to go after someone's honour.

this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2025
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