Some jurisdictions give redress when a person is victimised on account of colour, ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender identity, HIV/AIDS status or sexual orientation.
[3] This additional law No.20/05, prohibits and combats bigotry and hate speech define hate speech as any kind of expression that spreads, incites, encourages, or justifies racial hatred, and other forms of hatred such as humiliation, hostility, or violence against person or group on the basis of their race, religion, ethnic origin, national origin, sex, Health status, disability, Geographical affiliation, or gender identity.
It does, however, contain a ban against anyone that produces, maintains, or supervises a dedicated website or electronic account for the purpose of endorsing any initiative, concept, news, or sketches or pictures that may incite bigotry and hate in society which can result in a sentence of five to ten years in prison and a penalty of 5,000,000 to 10,000,000 Dinars.
Specifically, the law makes it illegal to publicly "deny, play down, justify or approve of the genocide committed by the Nazi German regime during the Second World War."
[9] An "identifiable group" is defined for both offences as "any section of the public distinguished by colour, race, religion, national or ethnic origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression or mental or physical disability".
[10] Article 249 of the Criminal Law of China states that anyone who incites ethnic hatred or discrimination may be sentenced to short-term custody, non-custodial correction, deprivation of political rights, or fixed-term imprisonment for up to 10 years, depending on the severity of the circumstances.
"[13] Denmark prohibits hate speech, and defines it as publicly making statements by which a group is threatened (trues), insulted (forhånes) or degraded (nedværdiges) due to race, skin colour, national or ethnic origin, faith or sexual orientation.
[18] The law concerning symbols was later made permanent if they are used publicly to support the relevant groups, while hate speech remains legal as long as it does not directly call to violence or discrimination.
Certain politicians, including Member of Parliament and the leader of the Finns Party Jussi Halla-aho, consider the term "hate speech" problematic because of the disagreement over its definition.
[25] France's penal code and press laws prohibit public and private communication that is defamatory or insulting, or that incites discrimination, hatred, or violence against a person or group on account of place of origin, ethnicity or lack thereof, nationality, race, specific religion, sex, sexual orientation, or handicap.
[30] Section 130 makes it a crime to publicly incite hatred against parts of the population or to call for violent or arbitrary measures against them or to insult, maliciously slur or defame them in a manner violating their (constitutionally protected) human dignity.
[32] In 2020, the Bundestag introduced further regulations to combat hate speech and online extremism in response to a series of far-right terror attacks in Germany in 2019 and early 2020.
[33] As part of the updated Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG), penalties for online insults were increased, and social media companies faced stricter reporting obligations.
The reforms also introduced provisions to allow prosecution for voicing public approval of serious crimes that have not yet occurred, such as endorsing or sharing threatening posts on social media.
Starting in 2022, platforms were required to report the IP addresses of users posting neo-Nazi propaganda, threats of serious violence, or media depicting sexual abuse to Germany’s federal police.
[34] In Iceland, the hate speech law is not confined to inciting hatred, as one can see from Article 233 a. in the Icelandic Penal Code, but includes public denigration:[35] Anyone who publicly mocks, defames, denigrates or threatens a person or group of persons by comments or expressions of another nature, for example by means of pictures or symbols, for their nationality, colour, race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity, or disseminates such materials, shall be fined or imprisoned for up to 2 years.Freedom of speech and expression is protected by article 19(1) of the constitution of India, but under article 19(2) "reasonable restrictions" can be imposed on freedom of speech and expression in the interest of "the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order.
The rapporteur's points came during a rise in anti-immigrant rhetoric and racist attacks in Ireland and were based on recommendations submitted by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and numerous other civil society organisations.
[50][51] It has drawn concern from the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and from across the political spectrum (specifically from Michael McDowell, Rónán Mullen, and People Before Profit), as well as internationally, from business magnate Elon Musk and political activist Donald Trump Jr.[51] Paul Murphy of People Before Profit said the bill created a "thought crime" by its criminalisation of possessing material prepared for circulation where circulation would incite hatred.
[59] Kawasaki City on July 6, 2020, began enforcing a first of its kind ordinance that penalizes people who repeatedly use hate speech in public spaces, with potential fines of up to 500,000 yen.
(1) Whosoever uses any threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, or displays any written or printed material which is threatening, abusive or insulting, or otherwise conducts himself in such a manner, with intent thereby to stir up violence or racial or religious hatred against another person or group on the grounds of gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, colour, language, ethnic origin, religion or belief or political or other opinion or whereby such violence or racial or religious hatred is likely, having regard to all the circumstances, to be stirred up shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term from six to eighteen months.
The definition of the offences as outlined in the penal code is as follows: In January 2009, a court in Amsterdam ordered the prosecution of Geert Wilders, a Dutch Member of Parliament, for breaching articles 137c and 137d.
[66] In 2016, in a separate case, Wilders was found guilty of both insulting a group and inciting discrimination for promising an audience that he would deliver on their demand for "fewer Moroccans".
The criminal charge of "Provoking ethnic, racial and religion based animosity and intolerance" carries a minimum six months prison term and a maximum of ten years.
The Penal Code criminalizes the deliberate promotion by someone of enmity, hatred or ill will between different racial and religious groups on grounds of race or religion.
[83]The "prohibited grounds" include race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth.
[93][94] The law does not prohibit a pertinent and responsible debate (en saklig och vederhäftig diskussion), nor statements made in a completely private sphere.
[96][99] In Switzerland public discrimination or invoking to rancor against persons or a group of people because of their race or ethnicity is penalized with a term of imprisonment of up to three years or a fine.
In 1934, the authorities of the Basel-Stadt canton criminalized anti-Jewish hate speech, e.g. the accusation of ritual murders, mostly in reaction against a pro-Nazi antisemitic group and newspaper, the Volksbund.
Article 37: "The establishment and activity of political parties and public associations are prohibited if their program goals or actions are aimed at ...the propaganda of war and of violence, the incitement of inter-ethnic, racial, or religious enmity, and the encroachment on human rights and freedoms and the health of the population".
Legislation against Sectarian hate in Scotland, which is aimed principally at football matches,[citation needed] does not criminalise jokes about people's beliefs, nor outlaw "harsh" comment about their religious faith.