What is hate speech?

The Council of Europe’s Committee defines hate speech as ‘’all forms of expression which spread, incite, promote or justify racial hatred, xenophobia, anti-Semitism or other forms of hatred based on intolerance, including: intolerance expressed by aggressive nationalism and ethnocentrism, discrimination and hostility against minorities, migrants and people of immigrant origin.”

While this conception is designed to offer guidance, there is no universally accepted definition of hate speech in international legal practice.

When the expressions mentioned in the above paragraph are presented in an online format (a blog, social network or any other type of online publication) we refer to it as online hate speech.

Hate speech and freedom of speech

One controversial aspect of hate speech regulation is its interaction with the concept of freedom of speech. Concerns over the potential use of hate speech legislation by states to silence political dissidence explain the importance of a balanced approach to regulation.

According to international conventions, while the right to hold an opinion – no matter how offensive – is an absolute right, the right to express that opinion is not absolute. Restricting freedom of speech should be done only in exceptional cases, in particular those where hateful expressions promote fear, intimidation, harrassment and violence. Violations of human dignity imbedded in certain hateful expressions, or the incitiment to violence they may contain, might fall outside shared notions of permissible speech. In these cases, it can be deemed appropriate to restrict speech that clearly promotes intolerance and hatred.