OSCE Ambassadors seek solution for hate speech dilemma

OSCE States take a wide range of approaches to combating hate speech, and this diversity is well illustrated by recent legal issues: contradictory court rulings on the cartoon debate, anti-religious incitement legislation in Britain, an anti-flag burning draft bill in the United States, a one-euro fine for an anti-Semitic article printed in France, and long prison sentences for Holocaust denial in Austria.

In the United States, courts are generally hostile to content-based regulation of hate speech. Usually speech is only restricted in cases where it poses a "clear and present danger" and would almost certainly incite violence or other rule of law violations. The prevalent philosophy is that, in a democracy, hateful speech is thought to be best balanced by calm, reasoned debate.

In many other parts of the OSCE region, detailed definitions of hateful content are used to set limits on free speech. The removal of some or all kinds of offensive speech from public discourse is done in the interest of democracy and avoiding social tensions.

Gaining insight from the OSCE region

The OSCE, which includes the countries of Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia and North America, as well as Russia, is well placed to help bridge the many approaches to free speech regulation.

"By considering the divergent approaches of different jurisdictions, insights can be achieved that are not possible when focusing on a single system or tradition," said Miklos Haraszti, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media.

He also warned that "...the proliferation of history-based national standards in hate speech limitations might render OSCE's commitment to free speech ineffectual in the long-term."

The OSCE participating States have signed commitments both to promote freedom of expression and to combat intolerance and discrimination.

One of the Representative's specific tasks is to fight intolerance in the media. At the 2004 Ministerial Council in Sofia, however, he was given the additional task of combating potential misuse of hate speech regulations in silencing legitimate dissent or alternative opinions.

Haraszti has participated in several key OSCE events relating to tolerance and non-discrimination since the second OSCE Conference on Anti-Semitism in April 2004.

Building a better understanding

To begin building a better understanding of the different approaches to hate speech regulation, the Representative on media freedom organized and moderated a panel discussion of five OSCE ambassadors in Budapest on 1 April 2006.

The event was part of a Central European University international conference on hate speech, organized jointly with the Floersheimer Centre for Constitutional Democracy of the Cardozo School of Law in New York.

Opening the discussion, Haraszti said: "The problem is that we don't have universally applicable measurements for what is legitimate speech limitation. At the same time, there are a growing number of countries, all in good faith, that pass specific speech regulations."

He characterized the dilemma by quoting the Armenian OSCE Ambassador Jivan Tabibian, who explained that legislation is sometimes adapted to fit existing taboos: "The concept of legally established taboos now exists. There are two ways out of this: if a taboo is an acceptable notion then let us have it in the protection of the many or the few, or if it is not acceptable, let us remove them all."

Hate speech definitions and practices

In the lively debate that followed, Russian Ambassador Alexey Borodavkin underlined the media's responsibility to balance reporting on terrorism and discourage hate propaganda by terrorists.

American Ambassador Julie Finley said that her country fears censorship more than offensive speech.

Ambassador Yves Doutriaux of France stressed the need to fight hate speech on the Internet through government and civil society, and to develop Internet literacy. He said the OSCE is unique in this debate because of its instruments such as the Representative on Freedom of the Media and the three Representatives of the Chairman-in-Office appointed to promote tolerance.

In his address, Ambassador Yusuf Buluc of Turkey said that hate speech "...if not checked, can unleash violent conflict and historically has proven its capacity to trigger genocides."

Slovakian Ambassador Peter Lizak highlighted the importance of respect between cultures as an important lesson from the cartoon issue. He also presented his country's recent legislation on Holocaust denial.
 

In closing the panel, Haraszti stressed that the OSCE can benefit from such multilateral deliberations. The possibility of developing a common approach to hate speech regulation depends on an increased understanding of the different views that currently exist.

"The OSCE must continue its efforts to promote debate on hate speech limitations within the region," he said.