Never before in the Federal Republic of Germany have there been so many – and such strict – laws regulating and restricting freedom of expression as there are today. Over the past decade, numerous new provisions have been introduced to ban certain statements. The state now classifies many statements as criminal offences that, just a decade ago, clearly fell within the scope of freedom of expression. 

Ronen Steinke highlights where the boundaries of freedom of expression now lie, including in the digital sphere. Especially in the current volatile climate, the doctor of law argues, the country should dare to allow more freedom of expression, rather than assuming people can be persuaded by silencing them. This is a passionate appeal from the bestselling author: to allow more freedom of expression, to tolerate debate and to be more courageous.

A sentence that hits like a sledgehammer: “It is unthinkable what Donald Trump might do if the United States were to adopt Germany’s approach to criminal law.” In “Meinungsfreiheit”, Ronen Steinke shows that the regulation of opinion and public speech in Germany is becoming ever more extensive and getting out of hand. Criticism of religion that incites violence? A criminal offence. “The world’s stupidest foreign minister”? Potentially a new offence under the category of insulting politicians. As a lawyer, Steinke understands the intricacies of the law, but as a journalist he also manages to write about it in clear, accessible language. And it is precisely this clarity that makes the book important. For a democracy must be able to withstand tough debate. And the state should not prevent this through ever more regulations.

Ronen Steinke, born in Erlangen in 1983, is a senior editor and columnist at the Süddeutsche Zeitung. He studied law and criminology and has worked in law firms, a youth detention centre and at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague. His doctoral thesis on the development of war crimes tribunals from Nuremberg to The Hague was praised by the FAZ as a “masterpiece”. His biography of Fritz Bauer, published in 2013, was adapted into a film and translated into numerous languages. In 2017, Berlin Verlag published his book “Der Muslim und die Jüdin. Die Geschichte einer Rettung in Berlin” [“The Muslim and the Jewess: The Story of a Rescue in Berlin”]. This was followed in 2020 by “Terror gegen Juden. Wie antisemitische Gewalt erstarkt und der Staat versagt” [“Terror Against Jews: How Anti-Semitic Violence Is on the Rise and the State Is Failing”], in 2022 by the bestseller “Vor dem Gesetz sind nicht alle gleich. Die neue Klassenjustiz” [“Not All Are Equal Before the Law: The New Class Justice”] and in 2023 by “Verfassungsschutz. Wie der Geheimdienst Politik macht” [“Constitutional Protection: How the Secret Service Makes Policy”].