Most Germans, on the other hand, would be surprised that insults are legal in many countries. Wikipedia has a map of this.[1] There is another aspect regarding

Most Germans, on the other hand, would be surprised that insults are legal in many countries. Wikipedia has a map of this.[1] There is another aspect regarding the legal situation in German that might be relevant to understand the difference to the US: The US constitution speeks only of the "freedom of speech", while the German consitution (Grundgesetz) goes much more into the detail: (1) Every person shall have the right freely to express and disseminate his opinions in speech, writing and pictures and to inform himself without hindrance from generally accessible sources. Freedom of the press and freedom of reporting by means of broadcasts and films shall be guaranteed. There shall be no censorship. (2) These rights shall find their limits in the provisions of general laws, in provisions for the protection of young persons and in the right to personal honour. (3) Arts and sciences, research and teaching shall be free. The freedom of teaching shall not release any person from allegiance to the constitution.[2] So the right to personal honour is directly acknowledged. As an aside: "teaching" ("Lehre") refers to higher education only, but includes both, teaching in the narrower sense and learning. As a consequence a student at a German university has the right to learn as he or she seems fit and can only be forced to attend a course, if his or her physical presence is really necessary as there is no other way to learn a particular skill. So the presence at laboratory courses or courses focused on discussions can be made mandatory, but not at lectures. (The student must only attent the course exam, if there is one.) Isn't it interesting that a student in Germany has a constitutional right to be an autodidact? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insult_(legal) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insult_(legal) [2] https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_gg/englisch_gg.html#p0034 https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_gg/englisch_gg.h...