I have mixed feelings about this.

We as the west point to Russia and China frequently, lamenting the closed-off nature of their Internet.

Now we are publicly pushing towards further fragmentation of the Internet.

I find it hard to see major differences between blocking TikTok here and China blocking Facebook over there. I assume, the process here is a little more publicly discussed whereas in Russia or China, things are quietly blocked by government agencies, but I might even be wrong about that.

I really hope the EU won’t release the money Hungary hasn’t received due to EU sanctions to have the deal pass.

Hungary has seen a tremendous amount of corruption by Orban and his family. It is a country whose leadership is incompatible with the EU ideas and managed to keep its power due to a stream of money from the EU while at the same time denouncing the EU.

Many of Orban’s changes, among them abolishing free media, funneling money out of EU-funded projects, cutting LGBTQ rights, rightfully caused EU sanctions.

Having talked to a lot of Hungarian friends and acquaintances, most of them want the EU to stop handing out money to Orban. They believe that only then their leadership’s corruption and incompetency will become apparent to the broad population and political change could become possible.

I respect you for admitting you were wrong. That takes courage.

Also maybe it wasn’t smart leaving that part out of my reply.

Unfortunately it’s hard to tell trolls apart from real people in here.

It somewhat reminds me of the height of covid in online discussions - people turn off their brains and fall back on basic emotions and empty phrases.

This is objectively false.

Habeck says in the video that he has seen a terrifying growth in antisemitism in Germany where members of the Jewish faith are scared to leave the house on their own or publicly display religious symbols due to open hostility. He talks about a responsibility of Germans due to the central role in the holocaust but also how the Islamic world has not distanced itself enough from the atrocities committed by the hamas. He even remarked that one doesn’t have to agree with some of Israel’s politics - even explicitly naming the settlements in the Gaza / West Bank region - but that this should not be any excuse for antisemitism.

I will say again what I said in another comment - The video is an appeal to human decency and respect. Shame on you for willfully and stubbornly ignoring that and derailing the conversation to incite further hate.

If anyone else comes here - go watch the posted video but stay away from this comment section.

I have absolutely no idea how such a level-headed and well-put-together speech appealing at human decency and respect towards each other devolved into such a vile comment section.

I assume most of the commenters either didn’t watch the video or purposefully ignored its content to instead incite more hate.

RIGHT? YA FUCKING BRAINDEAD HYPOCRITE? You going to register your fucking mill with the government so they know you aren’t a terrorist? ARE YOU NOW OR HAVE YOU EVER BEEN A MEMBER OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY?

I’m appaled by the tone in your response. I come to the fediverse because many of the discussions are interesting and I like to browse the comments or add my 2 cents.

You are doing the digital equivalent of screaming at the top of your lungs. I suggest you learn to rely on arguments instead of cheap rethoric and caps lock.

This links has led me to one the sneakiest cookie consent forms I’ve seen in a long while.

No, it stops you from burning a religious symbol in public. Secularity means that state and church are separate, which is a different matter. A lack of secularity would mean you can go on trial for not following the word of some god e.g. for loving someone from the same sex.

These are terrible and should be fought.

Bu this particular law is stopping assholes from being assholes.

Book-burnings also had a severely terrible history in the 3rd reich and are nothing but demonstrations of power, hate and close-mindedness.

Democracy means letting people with other world views exist in peace.

Please consider how you want to be treated by this world and how you can make your own positive impact on humans around you.

I am an atheist myself and will vehemently defend secularism but your comment boils down to hate and demanding others have the exact same beliefs as you do.

This is simply false. In Germany, the swastika may be used in the context of education, art and some other places.

You are simply not allowed to march up and down the street with a swastika flag, which seems very reasonable.