Ben Allison, Peter Huene, David Paroulek, Robert Rossman, and Mark Shapiro

German Reasoning

Censorship in Germany (Overview)
Freedom of expression as defined in the German Constitution.
Article 5 (gives freedom of expression)
Article 18 (protection of you)

Germany has similar views to the United States when it comes to the issue of censorship. In the German Constitution, under Article 5, it guarantees its citizens to their freedom of express and that there would be no censorship. However, there are some restrictions that can cause on to forfeit their basic rights; these restrictions can be found in Article 18 of the Constitution.

Article 5 states that there will be no censorship, but it is "limited by the general laws, provisions of the law for the protection of youth and by the right to inviolability of personal honor." This article also allows the government to somewhat censor teaching, by not allowing teachers to teach material that goes against the German Constitution. Article 18 goes one step further to define what "protection of youth" mean. Anything that "morally endangers children and adolescents" can be censored, things such as racism, crime, war, pornography, and the glorification of violence. The definition of pornography is not what American's think of it as; rather pornography is anything that is "anti-erotic and inhuman sex." Under this definition of pornography, things like dirty magazines such as Playboy and Hustler are excluded from being look at as porn.