Hate speech bill a bridge too far says NGO

THE Free Market Foundation says petty insults would be turned into crimes punishable by jail time by the Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill.

“Saying ‘all politicians are thieving liars’ or ‘all lawyers are bloodsucking parasites’ may land you in jail for up to three years if the bill is passed into law‚” the NGO said.

“If enacted‚ South Africa will become one of the few countries in the world where freedom of expression is regulated to this draconian extent especially as‚ contrary to international practice‚ the bill provides for no exemptions or defences.”

Hate speech is speech that is likely to lead to violence or that causes the aggrieved party intense psychological or emotional harm.

In a submission to the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development ahead of the January 31 deadline‚ the Free Market Foundation argues that the bill is far too wide‚ and that much of the content will lead inevitably to successful constitutional challenge.

The submission highlights four areas that it recommends should be scrapped or amended‚ pointing out that existing legislation already does the job. The Equality Act prohibits hate speech‚ and the Films and Publications Act empowers a board to refuse classification to publications containing hate speech.

The FMF said a doctrine of crimen injuria has successfully been used to prosecute hate speech‚ most notably the recent case of Penny Sparrow‚ and was superior to the bill because‚ unlike the bill‚ it requires someone’s dignity to have been violated – and that a reasonable person‚ in the same circumstances‚ would also have felt degraded. — TMG