What country is best for free speech laws?

[DomainBop]

Would that hold true for Europeans as well, who criticize their regimes, or issues pertaining to Euopeans? I had the impression free speech was better in, say, Japan, because in Europe it's more or less non-existent.

Europe is one of the most free continents in the world.  You may think differently, but free speech is SO Much better in Europe than in Asia.  Guaranteed.

Most European countries (especially EU countries) have very strict laws prohibiting the type of speech that is usually found on "right wing politics that seem to upset people"  websites which is why Dylan suggested the US.  Hate speech and holocaust denial (the two types of speech most commonly found on "far-right" websites) are illegal in most EU countries.  

Other European countries have laws against speech that is considered "blasphemy" (Denmark) , "denigration of religion" (Austria, Germany...FYI, if Pussy Riot had pulled their stunt in either of these countries they would have been looking at a longer manadatory jail term than what they received in Russia), "glorification and advancement of terrorism" (Denmark, again).  

Spain is a very good example of a European country which recently passed a slew of new laws that stifle free speech (see this article: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-13/1984-comes-europe-end-freedom-speech-spain ).  Publishing photos of security personnel / police on social media can land you in jail, criticizing the royal family in Spain is also a crime (as it is in the Netherlands), whistleblowing is now considered an act of terrorism, the ability to engage in street protests have been strongly curtailed, and the list goes on.  

Moving on to the UK, the draconian "anti-terror" laws that have been passed or proposed will also have a very chilling effect on the free speech of groups that aren't even remotely connected to terrorism (many animal rights protesters or "Occupy" type economic protesters could also have their speech chilled by these laws).

Plus, strong European privacy laws, especially the "right to be forgotten" court ruling,  have also had a chilling effect on free speech and have led to the censoring of some online content.

TL;DR:  google "Europe and free speech" and you'll find a lot of articles and op-ed pieces about the mad rush to curtail free speech (usually in the name of fighting terrorism or hate speech) by many of those same politicians who marched arm-in-arm in solidarity with their faux pro-free speech "we are charlie" chants.  (here's an article that appeared in the Economist 3 weeks ago: http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2015/08/free-speech-religion-and-europe and an op-ed from the EUObserver https://euobserver.com/opinion/129823 )

 

[HalfEatenPie]

[FONT= 'times new roman'] HalfEatenPie you wrote:[/FONT]

[FONT= 'times new roman']Asian countries appear to be rather tolerant about most topics but I'm not well-versed in their actual laws against certain topics, or what their actual privacy laws are. Perhaps @William can chime in?[/FONT]

Asian countries are one of the worst.  Each country has their own version of the Great Firewall of China here in Asia.  Korea for example has all porn websites blocked (in addition, if you want hosting in Korea you can't be anonymous and have to submit proof of identification and are supposed to get a Korean Legal Alien number (similar to your SSN in the US) and leave all this information with your hoster. 

Japan may be a little better.

The center for hosting in Asia is Singapore and Hong Kong.  Anywhere else is a bit more difficult.  

[FONT= 'times new roman']Would that hold true for Europeans as well, who criticize their regimes, or issues pertaining to Euopeans? I had the impression free speech was better in, say, Japan, because in Europe it's more or less non-existent.[/FONT]

Europe is one of the most free continents in the world.  You may think differently, but free speech is SO Much better in Europe than in Asia.  Guaranteed.  Especially in a place like Korea (since I'm more familiar with Korean law) where if you have any online presence on a Korean website you have to enter your Korean Citizens Number.  It's to track individuals on the internet and their uses.  If I recall correctly, this policy was implemented because Korea has a ton of civil unrest and people would organize demonstrations and protests online.  Therefore, the entire concept of anonymity is removed for any services on the internet.  Even video game accounts such has Leagues of Legend requires you to link it to your Korean phone number (which is linked to your Citizen/Alien Registration Number and they verify this through SMS and other means).  At least in Europe you have the ability to be anonymous, for many people in Asia this is not even available.  More detail here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resident_registration_number#Online_use.  

Europe is probably one of the most free and best continents to live in today.  It has the lowest Human Rights Risk Index score (http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/327783/slide_327783_3180650_free.jpg) and is considered one of the most free area of the world (https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/FITW_World_Map_24x16_fa_GF2015.jpg).  Europe in general has some of the most progressive governments and policies that I just can't imagine anyone thinking otherwise.  Yes everyone has their problems, but people in Europe definitely are much more free than others.  

In the end though, if you really want "free speech hosting", your best bet is to probably host in a country that isn't best friends with the country you're talking against.  

I suppose that's a consolation for those who have been heavily fined or jailed in one of the "freest continents in the world" and maybe when I tell my friend — who spent 30 months in a German prison — he'll cheer up, as well. I mean, what's 30 months in the slammer for writing a scientific report, anyway? Tss, tss 

That sucks for your friend.  I don't know his situation nor do I know exactly what each side has stated.  But the bottom line is that Europe definitely does have it much better than the rest of the world.  Every part of the world still has their sections to work on, but Europe is probably the most lax out of it all.  

Look up stories about times when Korea was a military government, before the third republic.  Much harsher than the Red Scare in the USA during that period, very similar to how the SS was for Nazi Germany, your neighbor even hinted that you were a socialist and the military dragged you off and tortured you (sometimes killed) for months.  Being idealist is fine, hell if everything followed idealistic values then everything would be fine, but unfortunately that's not how the world works.  

Since those days, there has been massive reforms in Korea and things are definitely much better, but there's still buses of riot police driving around the city and many locations with open space (originally squares and parks) have mostly been removed and replaced with trees to prevent mass meetings for protesters and people.  

The entire world is a mess when it comes to political and social policies (including free speech laws), but Europe is the best right now out there. 

 

[HalfEatenPie]

[FONT= 'times new roman']Would that hold true for Europeans as well, who criticize their regimes, or issues pertaining to Euopeans? I had the impression free speech was better in, say, Japan, because in Europe it's more or less non-existent.[/FONT]

Europe is one of the most free continents in the world.  You may think differently, but free speech is SO Much better in Europe than in Asia.  Guaranteed.

Most European countries (especially EU countries) have very strict laws prohibiting the type of speech that is usually found on "right wing politics that seem to upset people"  websites which is why Dylan suggested the US.  Hate speech and holocaust denial (the two types of speech most commonly found on "far-right" websites) are illegal in most EU countries.  

Other European countries have laws against speech that is considered "blasphemy" (Denmark) , "denigration of religion" (Austria, Germany...FYI, if Pussy Riot had pulled their stunt in either of these countries they would have been looking at a longer manadatory jail term than what they received in Russia), "glorification and advancement of terrorism" (Denmark, again).  

Spain is a very good example of a European country which recently passed a slew of new laws that stifle free speech (see this article: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-13/1984-comes-europe-end-freedom-speech-spain ).  Publishing photos of security personnel / police on social media can land you in jail, criticizing the royal family in Spain is also a crime (as it is in the Netherlands), whistleblowing is now considered an act of terrorism, the ability to engage in street protests have been strongly curtailed, and the list goes on.  

Moving on to the UK, the draconian "anti-terror" laws that have been passed or proposed will also have a very chilling effect on the free speech of groups that aren't even remotely connected to terrorism (many animal rights protesters or "Occupy" type economic protesters could also have their speech chilled by these laws).

Plus, strong European privacy laws, especially the "right to be forgotten" court ruling,  have also had a chilling effect on free speech and have led to the censoring of some online content.

TL;DR:  google "Europe and free speech" and you'll find a lot of articles and op-ed pieces about the mad rush to curtail free speech (usually in the name of fighting terrorism or hate speech) by many of those same politicians who marched arm-in-arm in solidarity with their faux pro-free speech "we are charlie" chants.  (here's an article that appeared in the Economist 3 weeks ago: http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2015/08/free-speech-religion-and-europe and an op-ed from the EUObserver https://euobserver.com/opinion/129823 )

I never said Europe wasn't without problems, but seriously saying Asia is so much better than Europe when it comes to free speech law is like saying I'd rather be stabbed with a knife than risk getting a papercut.  

 

[joepie91]

Guys, life is short. Living on the run is not worth it. 

 Purchase services anonymously, never connect from any IP that belongs to you (whether during the ordering process, or for server management). Nobody can be trusted. Rely on technical privacy only, not provider trust (eg. use onion routing, not VPNs).

That's a nice advise from a member here, but I have to be honest with you OP you will screw up at some point. Is either that or live a life full of OCD. Your choice buddy.

That's unfortunately pretty much inevitable if your adversary is a government. Yet another reason people should think very, very carefully about what kind of government structures they tolerate, and whether representative democracy is really beneficial to society.

 

[jarland]

It really depends on what you have to say. If the topic is specific, there is likely a "best" place for that topic.

 

[hxQ&S8ZaVn9e]

He says it will be a race and immigration based site. It will have news and articles about that. Is Iceland still ok for that? FTR I am only helping to set it up and not the owner.

 

[perennate]

He says it will be a race and immigration based site. It will have news and articles about that. Is Iceland still ok for that? FTR I am only helping to set it up and not the owner.

No: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech#Iceland

Can you clarify why privacy is a concern for hosting in the U.S.? Do you mean the owner doesn't want to publicly link his or her identity with the website being operated?

 

[DomainBop]

He says it will be a race and immigration based site. It will have news and articles about that. Is Iceland still ok for that? FTR I am only helping to set it up and not the owner.

Iceland probably isn't OK if the content will be like most  "race...based" sites.   The hate speech laws of most countries criminalize inciting hatred (as required by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ICCPR, see this article), but two years ago Iceland took it a step further and amended their hate speech laws to also include public expressions of hatred.

Section 233 (a) of the Icelandic penal code:

"Anyone who in a ridiculing, slanderous, insulting, threatening or any other manner publicly assaults a person or a group of people on the basis of their nationality, skin colour, race, religion or sexual orientation, shall be fined or jailed for up to 2 years." (In this context "assault" does not refer to physical violence but only to verbal "assault".)

You might find this summary of hate speech laws in different countries useful: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech

I never said Europe wasn't without problems, but seriously saying Asia is so much better than Europe when it comes to free speech law is like saying I'd rather be stabbed with a knife than risk getting a papercut.  

I agree that Europe is comparatively better for free speech rights.  With the exception of Japan and Taiwan, the citizens of most Asian countries don't enjoy the same degree of freedom of speech as (Western) Europeans.  The three lowest ranking countries on Freedom House's annual free speech survey are all Asian countries: North Korea, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan.

It really depends on what you have to say. If the topic is specific, there is likely a "best" place for that topic.

Yes to the first sentence.  Maybe to the second sentence because there are some topics which are illegal in every country.

 

[jarland]

He says it will be a race and immigration based site. It will have news and articles about that. Is Iceland still ok for that? FTR I am only helping to set it up and not the owner.

I've seen plenty of nazi related websites hosted in the US over the years with no government authority trying to shut them down. People DDOS attacking sure, but legally speaking it goes unchallenged.

 

[HN-Matt]

If you're interested in free speech, don't get a .xyz domain.

 

[RLT]

Why is the xyz domain bad?

 

[stakehost]

All asian countries.

 

[donator]

Iceland. Through an Icelandic company (not American providing services in Iceland).

 

[HN-Matt]

@RLT don't think it's 'bad', but they seem to have been remarkably easy to socially engineer into temporarily censoring a particular site (via NXDOMAIN) that had not broken any laws nor their ToS. Pray for Hanlon's Razor and you'll probably be okay.

 

[tarunap]

U.S,