Australian lawmakers have banned the performance of the Nazi salute in public and outlawed the display or sale of Nazi hate symbols such as the swastika in landmark legislation that went into effect in the country Monday. The new laws also make the act of glorifying OR praising acts of terrorism a criminal offense.
The crime of publicly performing the Nazi salute or displaying the Nazi swastika is punishable by up to 12 months in prison, according to the Reuters news agency.
Mark Dreyfus, Australia’s Attorney-General, said in a press release Monday that the laws — the first of their kind in the country — sent “a clear message: there is no place in Australia for acts and symbols that glorify the horrors of the Holocaust and terrorist acts.”
“No one in Australia will be allowed to glorify or profit from acts and symbols that celebrate the Nazis and their evil ideology,” the press release said.
Glad to see someone mention the Profiting part.
I’ve always suspected a lot of this was due to grifters stoking these A-holes up to increase sales of the flags, shirts, hats, etc.
The Brandon thing was a big boon to the Maga grifters as it created more new things one needs to collect to show your true level of being a Patriot.
You could then change out your Trump flag curtains for the Brandon stuff. Some are brave enough to change them out for the Nazis stuff when the time is right too. It completes the set when combined with the Southern Surrender flags as your curtains or bath towel.
I suspect that is also why their memes are quite slow to cycle trough. A lot of prolific figures need to sell their stock of stupid tat before they can move on to new things.
The Brandon thing was a big boon to the Maga grifters
Here’s a good one: I like to by small-time silver bullion, and ebay is actually a decent place for that. The first time I saw gimmick silver coins and bars with Trump’s face on them, I was like wtf. And even to this day, there’s some seriously wtf stuff out there all geared towards the maga persuasion.
It would be pretty comical, if it weren’t so crazy how much he’s being idolized. He’s being elevated to the level of Reagan worship, even before he’s been planted in the ground. I’m calling it now: After Trump croaks, the GOP is gonna try and pass a law to create a permanent federal Trump holiday.
While it would be really nice to have January 6th off of work every year, I unfortunately can’t get behind the creation of this holiday.
Perhaps a compromise? We celebrate the day Trump lost the election. The right can celebrate it the way they celebrate the death and rebirth of Jesus, while the left can celebrate it more like Festivus.
I’m all for celebrating Trump’s death as a federal holiday. We can even call it Trump day. The traditional celebration should of course be a mass exodus to go piss on his grave. Make effigies of him to burn for the folks that can’t make the trip, and then piss on those to put them out.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the reports of the chants as “horrific” and “appealing” at the time of the incident.
You mean “appalling”, right? Hope that was a typo.
Solid typo on the side of CBS. Or, alternatively, a surprising amount of honesty from an Australian politician.
Like a gay fundie describing Chris Hemsworth: “horrifically appealing!”
“Scaroused”
What implications does this have on media using the swastika? I know that for games like Wolfenstein the swastika is everywhere and while it doesn’t really retract from the experience by being absent, it would be really strange for that to suddenly not be OK, especially in the context of Wolfenstein where you’re tearing the Nazis a new one
German and Austrian versions of the new Wolfenstein games have swastikas and such removed/replaced.
I remember being pissed off the version sold on Steam to Switzerland was the censored version for no reason other than Switzerland is often stuffed with German and Austrian markets. When I blast sci-fi Nazis to bits, I prefer they look authentic.
Since the last Wolfenstein game was released, the law has been changed in Germany lifting the total ban on Swastikas in video games.
I don’t recall any more recent WWII games where I’ve seen a swastika though.
I recall that even after the ban was lifted, most companies preferred to continue self-censoring.
I find it even more irritating that it is banned in the German version of Bollywood movies. It looks different and more importantly has a different meaning.
That’s so silly. Not that censoring a game based entirely on brutalizing Nazis makes sense.
German laws allow swastikas in media under freedom of art and/or education. So depending on the context, it is legal in games. Foreign video game companies just don’t want to take any risk and have their game blocked because of nazi symbolism so they rather just remove it than hope the courts see their game for the form if art it may be.
The actual law bans using the swastika to “glorify or profit from Nazi idiology”.
Wolfenstein would not be impacted by the ban because at the core of the gameplay, the Nazis are the bad guys. It does not glorify the Nazis or celebrate them.
Sure Bathesda is profiting from the game, but they aren’t profiting from the glorification of Nazi idiology, they’re profiting from people’s desire to shoot zombie Nazis in the face.
It should becovered by freedom of art.
None
Good for Australia.
Surprised they weren’t banned.
Probably because it hadn’t been an issue until recently Strange times indeed
I wonder if those chants are actually anti-semitic or if they are just trying to trigger the people from Israel.
I feel if people are pro-Palestine, they are against discrimination and abuse of power, which would make it pretty strange if they actually want to do the same to jews.
The issue is that there are a lot of people who are already antisemitic and want to hijack the pro-Palestine movement to spread their own message or recruit new antisemites.
You’re so right! Chanting “Gas the Jews” is just a bit of trolling. No antisemitism to be found here!
I mean, I’m fine with that. That seems like something that should have been done a while ago.
It’s when they try and extend such things to saying any criticism of Israel is illegal, like what Germany is trying right now.
Where did you get that from?
In Germany, debate rages over a state policy to support Israel, no matter what
As Gaza is bombarded by Israeli forces, a polemic is raging in Germany over a state policy that makes criticism of Israel blasphemous because it’s seen as antisemitic.
It’s a poorly written article that confuses with its wrong translation of “Staatsraison” and omits the classification of Samidoun as a wing of PFLP, declared a terrorist organization by both the EU and the US. Supporting terrorist organizations is illegal. People getting canceled does not necessarily mean they did something illegal, and there hasn’t been a discussion about criminalizing criticism of Israel.
Criticizing Netanyahu’s actions is very popular in Germany. It’s just true that the German government does not do that enough.
Classic Germany. Goes from Nazist to Progressive so hard they end up on the other side of the spectrum back in Fascist territory.
How can that be a classic behaviour? For one, they haven’t done it, as illustrated by how hard they’ve cracked down on any facist behaviour since the cessation of WII. And wouldn’t they have had to have done it more than once for it to be a classic behaviour? They’ve literally been nazists once. They’d have to have been nazists more than once, and gone through the phases you’ve described for any normal person to call it a “classic”.
You know what is an example of a classic behaviour though? Internet “experts” who just trust what they’re given and don’t do any research about it. Like you’ve done. Want proof? Read the other reply to the comment you’ve replied to here. And if that’s not enough, explain to me why the German foreign minister hasn’t been jailed/charged/etc for these remarks. Never trust just one source.
Wow. You know absolutely nothing about current germany.
It’s a common “official” response from Western governments in light of justified criticism of the State of Israel’s policies on Palestinians. The idea is that Israel is perfect because it was founded by Holocaust survivors and they can do no wrong and anybody that questions that is a Nazi.
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I’m honestly not sure if you mean the Nazis, the Israelis, or the Australian government.
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Excellent
This is the best summary I could come up with:
“No one in Australia will be allowed to glorify or profit from acts and symbols that celebrate the Nazis and their evil ideology,” the press release said.
The landmark new laws were introduced as Australia tries to get to grips with a spike in antisemitism in the country as the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza rages.
Preliminary data released by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry showed a rise in antisemitic incidents in the wake of the bloody Oct. 7 terror attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants, which the Israeli government says left more than 1,400 people dead.
Israel launched an immediate war on Hamas in response, which health officials in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip say has killed nearly 23,000 people.
In October, unverified video went viral online showing a small group of people appearing to chant antisemitic slogans at a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside the Sydney Opera House.
A video posted on social media on Oct. 8 by the conservative Australian Jewish Association group purportedly showed protesters launching flares and chanting “Gas the Jews” and other antisemitic refrains.
The original article contains 367 words, the summary contains 177 words. Saved 52%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
… You mean it wasn’t already banned? lol
Immediately following the war and for a few decades after no one would have thought that Nazis were ok. Either your brother or neighbor or father fought them or died fighting them. By the time the 80s were coming around though the younger generations were forgetting or uncaring of what granddad or the old man in the barbershop did 40 years ago. Now it’s so far back that the youth have almost no connection to the heroes who fought against the nazis and so believe the disinformation spewed by modern Nazis.
Most people never needed an excuse to not sieg heil.
No? I’m pretty sure it’s legal in 99% of the world.
other hate symbols
such as? am I going to prison for owning a black flag?
The new laws also make the act of glorifying OR praising acts of terrorism a criminal offense.
I will not stop praising or glorifying climate protestors laying across lanes of traffic. you being a little bit late to your soul sucking 9 to 5 isn’t an act of terrorism.
The word Terrorist is already used as a truncheon against dissidents. Convicted Terrorist is about to become the 3rd gender in Australia.On the internet words like terrorist, fascist, and genocide seemingly has lost all meaning. It’s just an expression of dumb emotions.
But in a court of law these words do have defined meanings. The internet != real life.
And yeah a law in which the intent is to reduce antisemitism by banning symbols carried by antisemitic people may result in it being illegal for you to display your black flag in public if that same flag as carried by people who promote violence against Jews.
This might trigger some introspection in some people about why they’re in possession of symbols that are also carried by people that promote racist violence. Is there is significant difference between your black flag and a swastika in terms of how those symbols affect people?
The big problem with these laws is that the people legally defining these words are including non violent acts such as protesting.
if I say we should abolish the senate that’s not terrorism … unless you’re a senator.
and if you know anything about the black flag you know I don’t stop at the senate.
Can you point out any examples of this happening in Australia?
open any legislation, the first thing they do is define any words they use that diverge from common use.
C’mon, you’re making the claim here. If it’s as easy as opening any legislation then it shouldn’t be hard for you to provide an example.
How bloody far down did i need to scroll to find this. Why am i not suprised they did this.
While blocking roads isn’t terrorism, being late can have serious consequences for people. Not everyone has the ability to show up late with no consequences. Trivializing people getting fired, getting smaller raises, being late/ missing medical appointments,… is not going to help your cause.
meanwhile truck drivers blocking tunnels because they don’t know their clearance don’t go to jail.
You don’t see a difference between intentional and accidential acts?
Yeah, that second part is concerning.
Of course that dipshit has his shitty t shirt tucked in
Oi fuck off mate.
Nothing wrong with tucking your shirt in. Go be some boomer curmudgeon elsewhere.
Lol really touched a nerve there didn’t I? Boomer rapidly losing all meaning, those guys love tucking in their tees while rocking some white new balance.
Man i remember being an absolute dipshit ignorant child. I had that same butthead grin too. Time helped.
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I think there’s a very clear difference between a Buddhist swastika and a Nazi one. Nazis aren’t hard to pick out. And this is not a bad precedent. Nazis shouldn’t be afforded the freedom to speak. Their ideology should not be tolerated in any way whatsoever by a fair society.
Their ideology does not spread by reason or debate. It spreads by reinforcement, conspiracy theories, and propaganda. Giving them a platform to speak merely enables them to recruit. There is no debating them, as they have no points of debate. You can’t tell a Nazi they are factually wrong. That makes no difference in their ideology. You will say, “You’re wrong about Jewish people,” and the Nazi will point to the audience and say, "See how far the conspiracy goes? Even this guy is a part of it, " and some people in the crowd will genuinely believe them. They don’t need to win over every person at once, just more and more and more of them over time. Allowing them to speak in public is effectively the same thing as promoting them. They should not be afforded the option.
There isn’t a clear difference, all the cope about 45 degree angles and such is neo-Nazi gaslighting. You can find numerous examples in propaganda and military markings of the Nazis using it damn near anyway they wanted. And Buddhists and Hindus for that matter. It’s not anywhere near an exclusively Buddhist symbol btw.
The difference is simply in who’s using it and why.
What I meant wasn’t that there is a visual difference, but that context makes it crystal clear which symbol it is. I don’t mean in architecture or something, I mean you see a Nazi waving a Nazi flag or wearing a Nazi arm band or something and you’re not going to have to take a second to consider whether he’s using it in a religious way or not.
For real. It’s not hard.
I’m sure there will be exceptions like in Germany:
Symbols known to fall under the law are: the swastika as a symbol of the Nazi Party, prohibited in all variants, including mirrored, inverted etc. (exceptions are only applied to swastikas used as religious symbols in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain temples)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strafgesetzbuch_section_86a
Have you heard about the paradox of tolerance?
You dont hate nazis. You are arguing exactly as every Nazi here in germany argues against the same laws. The nazi swastika is not the same as the sun wheel and no one gets in trouble for displaying the sun wheel. It is not freedom to allow people to communicate the idea that mass murdering innocents is cool
Yes, Nazi swastika is tilted 45 degree. The issue now is whether people can recognise one without calling out religious symbol as nazi. I remember a post on reddit where op posted their new home where the previous owner have swastika tiles and want to get rid of it for the fear of getting associated with nazi, while the comment point it out it shouldn’t be the case.
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The moment they ban a swastika, it’s a slippery slope to… Absolutely nothing.
There’s lots of things banned.
Freeze peach isn’t world wide. Try it. Go to Thailand and insult the monarchy.
And even without the ban, some concepts/terms have a “fuck around and find out” around them. Try pointing a toy gun at a cop, does that infringe on your freedom?
No more WW2 video games with German swastikas?
This can only work if they change their neuliberal ideology and the myth of the free market regulating. They have to answer the issues of the inequalities. Otherwise, they banned symbols and profits. But, the ideology will still be present. And this one, you have to address social and systemic issues to fight it.
