Hate Speech in International Law

States must protect individuals from violence and discrimination, including when such harm is triggered by hateful speech. And this is increasingly urgent: hate speech spreads faster and wider than ever before; hate-motivated crimes have risen to their highest levels in more than a decade in the United States, and an upsurge in hate crimes has been recorded across the world. But the right to speak freely is an essential right, the foundation of a free and democratic society and a prerequisite ‘for the full enjoyment of’ our other human rights. This report sets out the minimum international standards that apply to states drafting, interpreting and applying hate speech laws. It also recommends which approach is preferable from a policy perspective where international bodies have taken divergent views.

Hate Speech is an extracted chapter of Freedom of Speech in International Law, edited by Lord David Neuberger of Abbotsbury and Ms Amal Clooney and published by Oxford University Press in January 2024. It is authored by Ms Amal Clooney – inaugural Deputy Chair of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom, and Ms Alice Gardoll. Ms Alice Gardoll is also the Assistant Editor of the text. The full text can be purchased in hard copy or as an e-book here.

Freedom of Speech in International Law outlines the minimum protections for speech enshrined in international law, focusing on four types of laws that are being weaponised to silence the press and independent voices: laws regulating defamatory or insulting speech, laws regulating false speech, laws regulating hate speech and laws regulating national security. The book provides examples of where states are falling short and makes recommendations about how international standards should be interpreted, updated and enforced.