One of the best things about living in Europe is that most of

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One of the best things about living in Europe is that most of the right-wing rhetoric you hear in America is very much against the law here. Calling Islam "uncivilised" or saying that gay marriage isn't really marriage would get you charged with inciting hatred. Suggesting that people should buy guns "for self-defence" would be considered inciting violence, which carries serious penalties as well. We're also finally starting to seriously crack down on climate change deniers and anti-vaxxers and many European countries have laws that prohibit insulting or offending people in general. Germany has a law against disparaging the memory of deceased persons, so the crude "ding dong, the witch is dead" rhetoric coming from the US when a celebrity dies would be very much illegal. Childish name-calling and lying about people is not allowed here either, as a woman in France was recently given defamation charges for commenting "she's a liar" on a YouTube video of a politician giving a speech.

Is our freedom of expression limited? Not in the least. We are guaranteed freedom of expression through European law. Rather than restricting freedom of expression, these laws simply ensure that it's used responsibly and for the purposes of good. Unlike Americans, we understand that human rights and human dignity also need to be respected. Americans stubbornly cling to their outdated interpretation of their archaic Constitution while the rest of the world forges ahead. You Americans look very uncivilised to the rest of us when you allow bigots to speak out openly. By allowing hate speech, you are sending the message to the rest of the world that your government approves of hatred and intolerance. Is that really what you want, Americans?