Germany is proposing legislation that would make denying the Holocaust punishable by tough prison sentences throughout all of the European Union.

Whereas the efforts by Iran and others, including some academics, to deny that six million Jews were killed during World War II is despicable, Europeans should reject such laws on grounds of free speech and civil liberties. According to The New York Times (log-in needed), the proposal “would also seek to criminalize racist declarations that are an incitement to violence against a person or group,” with the goal of unifying “national legal systems in their approach to combating racism and xenophobia.” This is a bad, bad way to deal with Holocaust deniers and their like. This scheme would give Big Brother a Big Leg Up.