Feddit.org admins respond to criticism regarding pro-Israel stance

Feddit.org admins have responded to the recent controversy about the pro-Israel censorship on !europe@feddit.org and elsewhere on their instance. I thought I'd repost it here for greater visibility (since it's posted in a mainly German language comm). Also, there's a fair bit of comment removal going on in there, and the contents are not being shown in the modlog, so it's a bit hard to tell what's being removed and how it's affecting the discussion.

TLDR: They stand fully behind the mods of !europe@feddit.org and their actions (Edit: Because the law, or at least the way the law is being enforced, says they have to)

!Europe@feddit.org mods have also spoken up: https://lemsha.re/feddit.org/post/12550375 (https://feddit.org/post/12550375). Their stance seems to be "We live in Germany, and we don't want the cops breaking down our door. Here's some examples". And that's totally reasonable, I get that and if I lived under that law I'd be behaving the same way. The question then is, should the biggest europe-centric comm be hosted and modded in such a way that criticism about one of Europe's most powerful nations isn't allowed?

Alternative Europe-centric comm, if you're looking for something censorship-free: !europe@lemmy.dbzer0.com

You can find their post here: https://lemsha.re/feddit.org/post/12529640 (https://feddit.org/post/12529640)

Previous post about their behaviour: https://lemsha.re/sh.itjust.works/post/37918115 (https://sh.itjust.works/post/37918115)

@db0@lemmy.dbzer0.com, let me know if this is outside the boundaries of this comm and I'll move it elsewhere. I'm mainly posting here as a follow up to the previous post.

Section 130 Incitement of masses

Some further links, mostly in German:

In this instance, we fully support the moderators of !europe@feddit.org to potentially remove too much rather than too little in case of legal uncertainties.

One of the triggers for the current debate is this post, which followed the removal of a comment comparing National Socialism with the current situation in Israel, which can be considered a trivialization of National Socialism. Such statements can, among other things, lead to imprisonment. Among other things, the post claimed that the removal had a Zionist motive, an accusation that should always be supported by appropriate evidence and prior to which it should be ruled out that there are alternative explanations.

We will not be removing every comment that goes even remotely in this direction, but we reserve the right to permanently ban users from feddit.org who make unfounded accusations, such as labeling our instance, admins, moderators, or other users as Nazis or Zionists, without substantial supporting arguments. This is especially the case when this is recurring behavior and not an isolated incident.

This includes content such as this post by @Deceptichum@quokk.au, who was banned from our instance shortly before that post due to multiple incitements of violence and terrorism. This person also seems to be the admin of the instance quokk.au, or at least to have good relations to the admin, since we received a censure on Fediseer from quokk.au around the same time, in which we are being accused of being Zionists and Nazis, and @Deceptichum@quokk.au has suggested [to defederate quokk.au from us].

If this censure by quokk.au is not withdrawn in a timely manner, we will defederate quokk.au from our side for these unsubstantiated and untrue accusations. quokk.au is a relatively small instance with only a few local users, which tried to build an alternative news community that is not on one of the “big” instances. Unfortunately, this community also seems to be a poor alternative if this is how their admin typically acts.

:::

106 comments

None of this addressed the locking of post regarding the current genocide with 0-1 posts.
They are actively removing the ability to discuss, regardless of opinion, Israel's genocide and only Israel's genocide.
- None of this addressed the locking of post regarding the current genocide with 0-1 posts.
  That was previously explained here: https://slrpnk.net/comment/15701097. I think it made things worse, but hindsight is 20/20.
  They are actively removing the ability to discuss, regardless of opinion, Israel's genocide and only Israel's genocide.
  That is true. For legal reasons, so the blame should fall on the govt of Germany, but true nonetheless
  
  This is using "for legal reasons" very broadly, too broadly and shifting any accountability away from the moderation.
  If entire country cannot be discussed "for legal reasons" on a large Europe community then should be a strong justification to move the community to somewhere that it is not a problem.
  
  Have you read the post? There are 3 things you cannot say about Israel:
  Israel is as bad as the nazis
  Calling for the (violent) destruction of Israel
  The slogan "From the river to the sea"
  Anything else has zero risk and can be freely said.
  The first one is objectively speaking a hyperbole so it's not necessary for discussions. Use any other genocide to draw a parallel to such as the US's genocide of the indigenous population. The second one can be interpreted too vaguely but you're save if you just put the word "peaceful" anywhere when advocating for a one state solution. The third one is a slogan that shouldn't be banned but is, so just don't say it.
  Yes, this law is too broad and designed to criminalize discussion about Israel. In a moderated forum this law is trivial to follow without changing the message behind any comment.
  
  If entire country cannot be discussed "for legal reasons"
  Sir, that's called censorship and this is a Wendy's
  
  so the blame should fall on the govt of Germany,
  Is that what everybody said last time? At the Hague and whatnot?
  
  I'm not going to condemn people for choosing to follow the law while they live there and without knowing the context of their situation. The law is what has to change.
  
  Rubbish.
  Edit: to clarify, law is being used as an excuse here. It doesn't need to change, it is feddit admins who need to change.