You can't deny the Holocaust or directly call for violence. That's about all I can think of. The interpretation of that isn't just done by the government, but by courts, which seem to do a pretty okay job at it. You can still express political opinions pretty unproblematically.
Really? Can you give an example, aside from Holocaust denial?
If anything, having lived in both the US and Germany, I feel more free in Germany. As an example, Google would not have been able to fire James Damore for his memo here.
The US libel laws are much more publisher-friendly - I cannot legally claim that Oury Jalloh [0] was murdered in Germany (even though he almost definitely was), whereas in the US the accused police has a higher burden in proving he wasn't.
But US-style FoS only applies to the government in the first place:
"Freedom of speech, also called free speech, means the free and public expression of opinions without censorship, interference and restraint by the government."
Specifically: "The First Amendment's constitutional right of free speech, which is applicable to state and local governments under the incorporation doctrine,[6] prevents only government restrictions on speech, not restrictions imposed by private individuals or businesses unless they are acting on behalf of the government.[7]"
So companies can restrict your speech all day long, as happened with James Damore.
"However, laws may restrict the ability of private businesses and individuals from restricting the speech of others, such as employment laws that restrict employers' ability to prevent employees from disclosing their salary to coworkers or attempting to organize a labor union.[8]"
But that is not the 1st amendment or general FoS legislation, but specifically employment laws. And employment laws are notoriously employer-friendly and employee-hostile in the US.
