Recently a hashtag went viral called #IStandWithHateSpeech. While that might seem to be on its surface a pretty insensitive statement, it perhaps voices a legitimate concern with EU hate speech laws. Here to help us wade through the details is everyone’s favorite legal correspondent, Andrew Torrez!
Here’s a news story that describes it a bit:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-1937_en.htm
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I’m wondering whether there might be a better analog for European law about holocaust denial in our laws regarding libel and slander. As I understand these laws (i.e., not well), intent to decieve is necessary for speech to be considered libellous, so disbelief in the holocaust would probably be a sound defense, but in so far as we have laws which criminalize lying about a person or group, there may be some philosophical overlap that’s worth exploring.
as a EU listener: How interesting to learn more about European hate speech laws from an american podcast!
Listening to this epdisode I was wondering: the intent behind the hate-speech laws here in EU is probably not all that bad. But isn’t it kind of naieve to think such laws can actually stop hatred from occuring?
Suppose an act of violence takes place: how can that ever be linked to a particular single person’s ‘hate-speak’. And reversely, how then can an utterence of a person ever be linked to ‘ignite hatred’ in somebody else? Would that hatred not already have been there to some degree?
I’m not a legal expert whatsoever but it seems like a can of worms if you start thinking about it. So, do such law actually provide any sort of protection?
Or even on the contrary: Currently a Dutch politician, Wliders (our ‘Trump’) is on trial for hate-speak. It seems he is dragging the trial along in order to extend it all the way into the general elections and then use it for political ga
in. I guess I’d rather have no trial at all…..