German society has changed quite a lot since I lived there in the 1970s. Over the last twenty years or so, there has been a flood of Muslim immigrants, which has led to an increase in anti-Muslim sentiment. It's been a real problem.
But in addition to the anti-Muslim issue, one unexpected problem with the rise in Muslim immigrants has been the rise in anti-Semitism...from those immigrants themselves. As you might expect, Germany does not want to be known as anti-Semitic. There's a bit of a problematic history there that cannot and will not be allowed to return.
So, when a popular Muslim rap group won the nation's Grammy award for an album that included a line about "starting a second Holocaust", the nation was aghast. The record company was unapologetic at first (it was a huge hit, after all, and they were making lots of money), but eventually the outcry became too much. Not only did the record company drop the band, the industry decided to completely drop their Grammy Awards.
Not everyone agrees with this approach. Just like in this country, there is a backlash against political correctness and multi-culturalism. In fact, one of Germany's conservative politicians is running on a platform of a "cross in every public place" to reclaim Germany's Christian identity. That doesn't really sound like a solution either, does it? With giant century-old Christian churches in literally every single German city, town, or village there's no shortage of signs that Germany is essentially a Christian nation.
But Germany, like the US, has freedom of speech and freedom of religion according to their constitution, and one never is supposed to trump the other. In this case, Germany has decided that 'hate speech' against a religion is not protected by your religious beliefs. In our country, we've decided the opposite, in the famous 'I won't bake a gay wedding cake' case.
Not sure which approach is better. Both seem wrong to me.
