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Australia bans Nazi salute, swastika, other hate symbols in public as antisemitism spikes (www.cbsnews.com)

submitted 10 months ago by Menu@slrpnk.net to c/world@lemmy.world

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Australian lawmakers have banned the performance of the Nazi salute in public and outlawed the display or sale of Nazi hate symbols such as the swastika in landmark legislation that went into effect in the country Monday. The new laws also make the act of glorifying OR praising acts of terrorism a criminal offense.

The crime of publicly performing the Nazi salute or displaying the Nazi swastika is punishable by up to 12 months in prison, according to the Reuters news agency.

Mark Dreyfus, Australia's Attorney-General, said in a press release Monday that the laws — the first of their kind in the country — sent "a clear message: there is no place in Australia for acts and symbols that glorify the horrors of the Holocaust and terrorist acts."

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[-] WashedOver@lemmy.ca 157 points 10 months ago

"No one in Australia will be allowed to glorify or profit from acts and symbols that celebrate the Nazis and their evil ideology," the press release said.

Glad to see someone mention the Profiting part.

I've always suspected a lot of this was due to grifters stoking these A-holes up to increase sales of the flags, shirts, hats, etc.

The Brandon thing was a big boon to the Maga grifters as it created more new things one needs to collect to show your true level of being a Patriot.

You could then change out your Trump flag curtains for the Brandon stuff. Some are brave enough to change them out for the Nazis stuff when the time is right too. It completes the set when combined with the Southern Surrender flags as your curtains or bath towel.

[-] Fisk400@feddit.nu 29 points 10 months ago

I suspect that is also why their memes are quite slow to cycle trough. A lot of prolific figures need to sell their stock of stupid tat before they can move on to new things.

[-] _dev_null@lemmy.zxcvn.xyz 8 points 10 months ago

The Brandon thing was a big boon to the Maga grifters

Here's a good one: I like to by small-time silver bullion, and ebay is actually a decent place for that. The first time I saw gimmick silver coins and bars with Trump's face on them, I was like wtf. And even to this day, there's some seriously wtf stuff out there all geared towards the maga persuasion.

It would be pretty comical, if it weren't so crazy how much he's being idolized. He's being elevated to the level of Reagan worship, even before he's been planted in the ground. I'm calling it now: After Trump croaks, the GOP is gonna try and pass a law to create a permanent federal Trump holiday.

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[-] Chiyo@lemmy.world 65 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the reports of the chants as "horrific" and "appealing" at the time of the incident.

You mean “appalling”, right? Hope that was a typo.

[-] sab@kbin.social 44 points 10 months ago

Solid typo on the side of CBS. Or, alternatively, a surprising amount of honesty from an Australian politician.

[-] VikingHippie@lemmy.wtf 15 points 10 months ago

Like a gay fundie describing Chris Hemsworth: "horrifically appealing!"

[-] MelastSB@sh.itjust.works 19 points 10 months ago

There is a typo, he meant "terrific" not "horrific"

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[-] soda3x@lemmy.world 52 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

What implications does this have on media using the swastika? I know that for games like Wolfenstein the swastika is everywhere and while it doesn't really retract from the experience by being absent, it would be really strange for that to suddenly not be OK, especially in the context of Wolfenstein where you're tearing the Nazis a new one

[-] ours@lemmy.world 22 points 10 months ago

German and Austrian versions of the new Wolfenstein games have swastikas and such removed/replaced.

I remember being pissed off the version sold on Steam to Switzerland was the censored version for no reason other than Switzerland is often stuffed with German and Austrian markets. When I blast sci-fi Nazis to bits, I prefer they look authentic.

[-] 9715698@lemmy.world 10 points 10 months ago

Since the last Wolfenstein game was released, the law has been changed in Germany lifting the total ban on Swastikas in video games.

I don't recall any more recent WWII games where I've seen a swastika though.

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[-] DillyDaily@lemmy.world 16 points 10 months ago

The actual law bans using the swastika to "glorify or profit from Nazi idiology".

Wolfenstein would not be impacted by the ban because at the core of the gameplay, the Nazis are the bad guys. It does not glorify the Nazis or celebrate them.

Sure Bathesda is profiting from the game, but they aren't profiting from the glorification of Nazi idiology, they're profiting from people's desire to shoot zombie Nazis in the face.

[-] Menu@slrpnk.net 13 points 10 months ago

It should becovered by freedom of art.

[-] Grass@sh.itjust.works 8 points 10 months ago

I can't imagine any offensive way of publicly displaying or glorifying an instance of it in a game

[-] StorminNorman@lemmy.world 21 points 10 months ago

Nah, it's easy to imagine that. Multiplayer. The Nazi team wins. Swastikas everywhere. Pretty sure it's why cod no longer has swastikas in multiplayer anymore (and if I'm remembering rightly, they kept it in the single player as they felt it wasn't offensive as it is given with a hell of a lot of context that multiplayer rounds simply don't have).

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[-] Silverseren@kbin.social 37 points 10 months ago

I mean, I'm fine with that. That seems like something that should have been done a while ago.

It's when they try and extend such things to saying any criticism of Israel is illegal, like what Germany is trying right now.

[-] lurch@sh.itjust.works 33 points 10 months ago

Germany is not doing that at all. Germans are just aware of their past and almost all will therefore be careful what they say and also point that out to other Germans. It is not forbidden to criticise Israel though and probably it never will be. Most Germans will just be the last to do it on their own individual initiative.

[-] Silverseren@kbin.social 25 points 10 months ago

In Germany, debate rages over a state policy to support Israel, no matter what

As Gaza is bombarded by Israeli forces, a polemic is raging in Germany over a state policy that makes criticism of Israel blasphemous because it's seen as antisemitic.

https://www.courthousenews.com/in-germany-debate-rages-over-a-state-policy-to-support-israel-no-matter-what/

[-] JJROKCZ@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago

It’s not a crime to not support Israel, just taboo and against stated policy. Policy isn’t law though

[-] Menu@slrpnk.net 16 points 10 months ago

I would not say it's a taboo within the German population to speak out against the current Israeli government.

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[-] Menu@slrpnk.net 16 points 10 months ago

Where did you get that from?

[-] Silverseren@kbin.social 19 points 10 months ago

In Germany, debate rages over a state policy to support Israel, no matter what

As Gaza is bombarded by Israeli forces, a polemic is raging in Germany over a state policy that makes criticism of Israel blasphemous because it's seen as antisemitic.

https://www.courthousenews.com/in-germany-debate-rages-over-a-state-policy-to-support-israel-no-matter-what/

[-] Menu@slrpnk.net 18 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

It's a poorly written article that confuses with its wrong translation of "Staatsraison" and omits the classification of Samidoun as a wing of PFLP, declared a terrorist organization by both the EU and the US. Supporting terrorist organizations is illegal. People getting canceled does not necessarily mean they did something illegal, and there hasn't been a discussion about criminalizing criticism of Israel.

Criticizing Netanyahu's actions is very popular in Germany. It's just true that the German government does not do that enough.

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[-] yamanii@lemmy.world 23 points 10 months ago

Surprised they weren't banned.

[-] throwwyacc@lemmy.world 18 points 10 months ago

Probably because it hadn't been an issue until recently Strange times indeed

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[+] friend_of_satan@lemmy.world 13 points 10 months ago

[deleted]

[-] Menu@slrpnk.net 29 points 10 months ago

I'm sure there will be exceptions like in Germany:

Symbols known to fall under the law are: the swastika as a symbol of the Nazi Party, prohibited in all variants, including mirrored, inverted etc. (exceptions are only applied to swastikas used as religious symbols in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain temples)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strafgesetzbuch_section_86a

Have you heard about the paradox of tolerance?

[-] LadyAutumn 24 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I think there's a very clear difference between a Buddhist swastika and a Nazi one. Nazis aren't hard to pick out. And this is not a bad precedent. Nazis shouldn't be afforded the freedom to speak. Their ideology should not be tolerated in any way whatsoever by a fair society.

Their ideology does not spread by reason or debate. It spreads by reinforcement, conspiracy theories, and propaganda. Giving them a platform to speak merely enables them to recruit. There is no debating them, as they have no points of debate. You can't tell a Nazi they are factually wrong. That makes no difference in their ideology. You will say, "You're wrong about Jewish people," and the Nazi will point to the audience and say, "See how far the conspiracy goes? Even this guy is a part of it, " and some people in the crowd will genuinely believe them. They don't need to win over every person at once, just more and more and more of them over time. Allowing them to speak in public is effectively the same thing as promoting them. They should not be afforded the option.

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[-] Draedron@lemmy.dbzer0.com 19 points 10 months ago

You dont hate nazis. You are arguing exactly as every Nazi here in germany argues against the same laws. The nazi swastika is not the same as the sun wheel and no one gets in trouble for displaying the sun wheel. It is not freedom to allow people to communicate the idea that mass murdering innocents is cool

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[-] 768@sh.itjust.works 16 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Do you know what set a bad precedent? The Holocaust. The Second World War.

Never again.

[-] Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago

The moment they ban a swastika, it's a slippery slope to... Absolutely nothing.

There's lots of things banned.

Freeze peach isn't world wide. Try it. Go to Thailand and insult the monarchy.

And even without the ban, some concepts/terms have a "fuck around and find out" around them. Try pointing a toy gun at a cop, does that infringe on your freedom?

[-] Caligvla@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 10 months ago

... You mean it wasn't already banned? lol

[-] JJROKCZ@lemmy.world 31 points 10 months ago

Immediately following the war and for a few decades after no one would have thought that Nazis were ok. Either your brother or neighbor or father fought them or died fighting them. By the time the 80s were coming around though the younger generations were forgetting or uncaring of what granddad or the old man in the barbershop did 40 years ago. Now it’s so far back that the youth have almost no connection to the heroes who fought against the nazis and so believe the disinformation spewed by modern Nazis.

[-] Marsupial@quokk.au 9 points 10 months ago

No? I’m pretty sure it’s legal in 99% of the world.

[-] moitoi@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 10 months ago

This can only work if they change their neuliberal ideology and the myth of the free market regulating. They have to answer the issues of the inequalities. Otherwise, they banned symbols and profits. But, the ideology will still be present. And this one, you have to address social and systemic issues to fight it.

[-] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago

Of course that dipshit has his shitty t shirt tucked in

[-] Marsupial@quokk.au 21 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Oi fuck off mate.

Nothing wrong with tucking your shirt in. Go be some boomer curmudgeon elsewhere.

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[-] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago

Man i remember being an absolute dipshit ignorant child. I had that same butthead grin too. Time helped.

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this post was submitted on 08 Jan 2024

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