SPD's Edathy: State must monitor hate blog "PI"

The other day I wrote about the popular blog "Politically Incorrect" and its hate campaign against President Obama.  It appears that some politicians in Germany see the blog as something more sinister than just a harmless forum for racists and right-wing extremists.  Now a prominent member of the German paliament - Sebastian Edathy - has accused the blog of "incitement" (Volksverhetzung) - which is a crime in Germany:

Sebastian Edathy, Rechtsexperte der SPD, fordert vom Bundesinnenminister Thomas de Maizière (CDU), die Internetplattform "Politically Incorrect" unter Beobachtung vom Verfassungsschutz zu stellen. Er geht davon aus, dass die Inhalte auf der Platform den inneren Frieden in Deutschland stören. Auch würden auf der Plattform die Angehörigen des Islam kontinuierlich verächtlich gemacht. Laut Edathy würde vor allem "wiederholt der Straftatbestand der Volksverhetzung und der Beschimpfung von Religionsgemeinschaften erfüllt".

(Sebastian Edathy, legal expert of the SPD, has demanded that Germany's interior minister Thomas de Maiziere (CDU) place the Internaet platform "Politically Incorrect" under observation by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Edathy asserts that the site's content disturbs the internal peace of Germany. Furthermore, the site constantly subjects followers of Islam to scorn and ridicule. According to Edathy, this violates the laws against incitement and ridicule of religious communities.")

And the Tageszeitung reports that the site's followers are no longer just content to make anonymous comments.  Increasingly, they are organizing and taking to the street:

Zunehmend drängen die Leser der Homepage auf die Straßen. Es gibt mittlerweile bereits zahlreiche PI-Aktionsgruppen in Deutschland - vom Ruhrgebiet bis Dresden, von Karlsruhe bis Hamburg. Eine genaue Übersicht über Anzahl und Größe islamfeindlicher Gruppen und Grüppchen gibt es nicht. "Ihre Zahl hat in den letzten Jahren zugenommen, und von daher auch die gefühlte Islamfeindlichkeit", sagt die Islamismusexpertin Claudia Dantschke.

(Increasingly the readers of the site are taking to the streets. There are already numerous "PI" action groups in Germany - from the Ruhr region to Dresent, from Karlsruhe to Hamburg. There is not any reliable data concerning the number and size of these anti-Muslim groups. "Their numbers have grown along with the intensity of their hatred towards Islam," says the expert in Islam Claudia Dentschke.)

The concern is that these small groups will eventually find their way into neo-fascist organizations and political parties.

While I sympathize with Sebastian Edathy, I don't see his efforts as having much effect on PI.  The owners/operators of the site have move the servers to the United States where hate speech is protected under the First Amendment.

Comments

[Holger Szesnat]

You may not be able to stop the blog, but a clever state prosecutor with guts might be able to prosecute the bastards if they live in Germany. Not that this is likely.

[xls]

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