The National Assembly has passed controversial new laws to tackle hate speech in South Africa.
On top of the long list of characteristics that could be considered in hate crime or hate speech cases, the bill also covers various channels through which these crimes could be committed.
The bill tries to skirt around this by exempting certain forms of communication from being regarded as hate speech – such as religious expression – so long as the speech does not “advocate hatred that constitutes incitement to cause harm” based on the characteristics.Some extreme examples of how the laws could be twisted were given when the bill was first published – such as basic insults based on someone’s age or occupation being regarded and hate speech and sending someone to jail.
The criminal record of a person who has been convicted must explicitly record the underlying offence as a hate crime.Hate speech The bill states that these laws do not apply if the communication is done “in good faith in the course of engagement”.Academic or scientific inquiry;
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