On 21 August 2019, Phineas Mojapelo, the Deputy Judge President of the South Gauteng Division of the High Court in the case of, Nelson Mandela Foundation Trusts v Afriforum NPC ([2019] ZAEQC 2) ruled that the display of the pre-1994 South African flag – the apartheid flag – constitutes hate speech. Read the rest of this entry »
South Africa: Why waving the apartheid flag amounts to hate speech – Dario Milo and Lavanya Pilla
9 09 2019Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: Dario Milo, Hate Speech, Lavanya Pilla
Categories : South Africa
Tackling hate speech: Intersecting approaches and the Raheem Stirling case – Suneet Sharma
24 08 2019
The case of footballer Raheem Stirling provides an avenue into the oft-overlooked issue of hate speech prevention and deterrence. The Stirling case provides an opportunity to consider the adequacy of English law in tackling hate speech, a nuanced and increasingly difficult to isolate issue. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Hate Speech, Raheem Sterling, Suneet Sharma, The Privacy Perspective
Categories : Freedom of expression, Legal, Social Media
Case Law, Strasbourg: Stomakhin v Russia, No overbroad suppression of extremist opinions and ‘hate speech’ – Dirk Voorhoof
14 06 2018
In its recent judgment in Stomakhin v. Russia, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) launched the message to all domestic authorities to adopt a “cautious approach” in determining the scope of “hate speech” crimes and to avoid “excessive interference” with the right to freedom of expression, especially when action is taken against ‘hate speech’ or extremist opinions that are mere criticism of the government, state institutions and their policies and practices. Read the rest of this entry »
Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: Dirk Voorhoof, Hate Speech, Strasbourg Observers
Categories : Freedom of expression, Human Rights
Can taking down websites really stop terrorists and hate groups? -Thomas Holt, Joshua D Freilich and Steven Chermak
17 09 2017
In the wake of an explosion in London on September 15, President Trump called for cutting off extremists’ access to the internet. Racists and terrorists, and many other extremists, have used the internet for decades and adapted as technology evolved, shifting from text-only discussion forums to elaborate and interactive websites, custom-built secure messaging systems and even entire social media platforms. Read the rest of this entry »
Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: Hate Speech, Joshua D Freilich and Steven Chermak, The Conversation, Thomas Holt
Categories : Freedom of expression, Internet, Social Media
South Africa: Comedians fight bill that will limit the freedoms that keep us laughing – Dario Milo
2 03 2017
Public comments on the Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill [pdf] were due at the end of January. A coalition of some of SA’s best comedians and satirists has taken a stand against the bill and filed submissions arguing that its hate speech provisions are unconstitutional. Among them are Pieter-Dirk Uys, John Vlismas, Jonathan Shapiro (Zapiro), Kagiso Lediga, Conrad Koch (and Chester Missing), Nik Rabinowitz, Tumi Morake, Joey Rasdien, Nina Hastie, David Kau, Casper de Vries, Celeste Ntuli, Mark Banks, Jason Goliath, John Barker, Christopher Steenkamp and the creators of the satirical programme ZA News. Read the rest of this entry »
Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: Dario Milo, Hate Speech
Categories : Freedom of expression, South Africa
Removing social media hate speech within 24 hours sounds like a good idea, but – Fiona R Martin
14 06 2016
In a bid to fight escalating anti-migrant propaganda, the European Commission this month released a blueprint for regulating online hate, which requires social media companies to take down racist material within 24 hours. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Fiona R Martin, Hate Speech, Takedown, The Conversation
Categories : Government and Policy, Harassment, Social Media
Hate speech and Hillsborough. How a disgraceful t-shirt led to a very modern and very public “punishment” – Ellis Schindler
8 06 2016
Over the Spring Bank Holiday, a man was arrested by West Mercia Police under Section 4A of the Public Order Act 1986 for wearing a highly offensive T-shirt to a local pub. Sounds draconian? Perhaps not when you consider the words that this individual had printed on the t-shirt in question. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Ellis Schindler, Hate Speech, Himsworth Legal
Categories : Legal, Social Media
Case Law Canada: Saskatchewan (Human Rights Commission) v Whatcott, Supreme Court upholds hate speech provisions – Aileen McColgan
15 03 2013
In Saskatchewan (Human Rights Commission) v Whatcott 2013 SCC 11 Canada’s Supreme Court considered the balance between equality rights and rights to freedom of expression and religion. It upheld the central “hate speech” provisions in the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code, although struck down some of the code’s wording in a case prompted by flyers handed out by a religious anti-gay activist, Bill Whatcott. Read the rest of this entry »
Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: Hate Speech
Categories : Canada, Freedom of expression
Case Law, Canada (Human Rights Commission) v Warman: Hate speech and the Canadian Human Rights Commission – Eloise le Santo
9 11 2012
The case of Canada (Human Rights Commission) v. Warman, brought by the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC), was a judicial review of a decision by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal not to impose any penalty on Marc Lemire for breaching section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act 1985 (CHRA). Read the rest of this entry »
Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: Eloise le Santo, Hate Speech
Categories : Canada, Freedom of expression
