When a state defines 'hate speech' laws they're really defining 'thought criminal' laws.
Merkle and co. are trying to manipulate public opinion through the destruction of contrarian thought from the public realm.
Merkle and co. are trying to manipulate public opinion through the destruction of contrarian thought from the public realm.
Those laws are also not created by "Merkel and co." but decades old and introduced by the allies after the second world-war.
On a related note, the hate speech laws have not been introduced by the Merkel government.
When you stand on the street and loudly demand that specific people or groups of people should be killed or injured in specific ways, that's a different matter from just saying those same people shouldn't be allowed into the country or should be deported.
One is demanding a change in policy or political action. The other is demanding vigilante "justice" and lynching.
This has nothing to do with Merkel (who btw is a conservative -- her refugee policy has been the single most liberal thing she did since entering office) and everything to do with upholding the constitution and the state of law.
Whether you demand the murder of refugees, nazis or antifa, if you openly do so while addressing the public, you are committing a crime under German law. The law protects all humans, not just refugees.