Freedom of expression is guaranteed in Article 5 of the Basic Law, the German constitution, which also makes clear that this freedom has limits in order to, for example, to protect young people, privacy or personal honor.

The protection of personal honor plays a particularly important role in the German legal system, said lawyer Ralf Poscher, director of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law in Freiburg. "This originates from the time in history when notions of honor were even more important. They were then embraced by the middle classes too, and were incorporated into our legal system."

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It is a criminal offense in Germany to insult others, and it is also illegal to spread lies that demean others. That means freedom of speech is much more restricted in Germany than, for example, in the US, says Nadine Strossen, a professor at New York Law School. A former president of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Strossen is known as a strong advocate for free speech.

"The United States First Amendment law, which is our constitutional provision that protects free speech, is one of the strongest, I think it's fair to say it's the most speech protective national law in the world," says Strossen. The First Amendment prohibits laws that........

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