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http://dx.doi.org/10.17176/20191210-180826-0 https://verfassungsblog.de/anachronisms-by-law/ Anachronisms by Law - Why Resurrecting Speech-Restricting Laws from the Past Should not be the Way Forward Heldt, Amélie eng 2019-12-10 electronic resource text/html ddc:342 Criminal Law Freedom of Speech Social Media Verfassungsblog Verfassungsblog--2366-7044 CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 In an ongoing effort to combat online hate speech, the German Minister of Justice recently announced to examine the re-introduction of section 88a of the German Penal Code. This law sanctioned the ‘anti-constitutional endorsement of crime’ and was only in force during a brief period between 1976 and 1981. It was supposed to counteract the spread of aggressive opinions and calls for violence. While politicians today are struggling with the issue of harmful online speech, one should refrain from re-introducing a law that was not only controversial back then but also ineffective. Apart from that, resurrecting the law in today’s digital world raises numerous questions.