system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: Laws against holocaust denial is a bad thing.
gpt
In Germany and Austria, holocaust denial laws are a historical legacy.  

In the decades after WW2, those countries were such a mess that they could not afford to adhere to lofty ideals of absolute free speech.  They had to be pragmatic in order to rebuild a civilized society. De-nazification was part of that effort. It is hard to imagine just how brainwashed society was.  It is difficult to fix that without restrictions on free speech.

Nowadays, these laws are no longer necessary, but repealing them would send the wrong message and offend a lot of people, so Austria and Germany are stuck with them. 

These laws are not as illiberal as they seem. You are not going to go to prison for denying the holocaust while talking to someone on a bus stop. In practice, only the people who express these views to larger audiences get prosecuted.