Hate speech in India is the use of language or actions that promote discrimination, hostility, or hatred against individuals or groups based on their identities, such as religion, caste, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or political affiliation. India's diverse population of over 1.3 billion people and complex social and political landscape make it vulnerable to hate speech and incitement to violence, which have become increasingly prominent in recent years. [1] [2]
India has laws, including the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), to address hate speech, but these laws are criticized for their lack of clarity and inadequate enforcement. Acts that could promote enmity between different groups on religious grounds and insult religious beliefs are prohibited by law. However, there is no legal definition of hate speech in India. The Law Commission of India recommended adding separate provisions to the IPC to criminalize hate speech in 2017, but some legal experts have raised concerns that these amendments could be misused to curtail legitimate speech and expression. [3]
The judiciary in India has been hesitant to impose restrictions on free speech, and hate speech cases have not been acted upon in most instances. The police and other law enforcement agencies have also faced criticism for their inability to investigate and prosecute cases of hate speech and incitement to violence. [4]
Social media and television channels have contributed to the rise of hate speech in India, with politicians and public figures using these platforms to gain media attention and disseminate hate speech. Social media platforms like Facebook's Indian subsidiary, Meta, and Twitter have also faced criticism for their content moderation practices in India. [5] [6] [7]
Meta commissioned a Human Rights Impact Assessment on India in 2019 to evaluate its role in spreading hate speech and incitement to violence. However, the report has been criticized for deflecting blame and not addressing the root causes of hate speech in India. Civil society groups argue that the report was designed to deflect criticism rather than address the problem. [8]
A hate crime is crime where a perpetrator targets a victim because of their physical appearance or perceived membership of a certain social group.
Hate speech is a term with varied meaning and has no single, consistent definition. It is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation". The Encyclopedia of the American Constitution states that hate speech is "usually thought to include communications of animosity or disparagement of an individual or a group on account of a group characteristic such as race, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion, or sexual orientation". There is no single definition of what constitutes "hate" or "disparagement". Legal definitions of hate speech vary from country to country.
Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions that are falsifiable, and can extend to concepts that are more abstract than reputation – like dignity and honour. In the English-speaking world, the law of defamation traditionally distinguishes between libel and slander. It is treated as a civil wrong, as a criminal offence, or both.
Volksverhetzung, in English "incitement to hatred", "incitement of popular hatred", "incitement of the masses", or "instigation of the people", is a concept in German criminal law that refers to incitement to hatred against segments of the population and refers to calls for violent or arbitrary measures against them, including assaults against the human dignity of others by insulting, maliciously maligning, or defaming segments of the population.
Incitement to ethnic or racial hatred is a crime under the laws of several countries.
Freedom of speech is the concept of the inherent human right to voice one's opinion publicly without fear of censorship or punishment. "Speech" is not limited to public speaking and is generally taken to include other forms of expression. The right is preserved in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is granted formal recognition by the laws of most nations. Nonetheless, the degree to which the right is upheld in practice varies greatly from one nation to another. In many nations, particularly those with authoritarian forms of government, overt government censorship is enforced. Censorship has also been claimed to occur in other forms and there are different approaches to issues such as hate speech, obscenity, and defamation laws.
Speech crimes are certain kinds of speech that are criminalized by promulgated laws or rules. Criminal speech is a direct preemptive restriction on freedom of speech, and the broader concept of freedom of expression.
A blasphemy law is a law prohibiting blasphemy, which is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence to a deity, or sacred objects, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. According to Pew Research Center, about a quarter of the world's countries and territories (26%) had anti-blasphemy laws or policies as of 2014.
The hate speech laws in India aim to prevent discord among its many ethnic and religious communities. The laws allow a citizen to seek the punishment of anyone who shows the citizen disrespect "on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or any other ground whatsoever". Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code prohibits citizens from creating disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different groups of people.
Facebook has been involved in multiple controversies involving censorship of content, removing or omitting information from its services in order to comply with company policies, legal demands, and government censorship laws.
Online hate speech is a type of speech that takes place online with the purpose of attacking a person or a group based on their race, religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, and/or gender. Online hate speech is not easily defined, but can be recognized by the degrading or dehumanizing function it serves.
Hate speech is public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation. Hate speech is "usually thought to include communications of animosity or disparagement of an individual or a group on account of a group characteristic such as race, colour, national origin, sex, disability, religion, or sexual orientation".
The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament.
In 2021, an internal document leak from the company then known as Facebook showed it was aware of harmful societal effects from its platforms, yet persisted in prioritizing profit over addressing these harms. The leak, released by whistleblower Frances Haugen, resulted in reporting from The Wall Street Journal in September, as The Facebook Files series, as well as the Facebook Papers, by a consortium of news outlets the next month.
The Bulli Bai case related to an online mock auction of Muslim women in India. Photos of prominent Muslim journalists and activists were uploaded on the Bulli Bai app without their permission where they were auctioned virtually. Like Sulli Deals, the app did not actually sell anyone, but harassed and humiliated these women. The app has been removed from the Internet platform GitHub, where it was hosted, following outrage over the app.
Facebook and Meta Platforms have been criticized for their management of various content on posts, photos and entire groups and profiles. This includes but is not limited to allowing violent content, including content related to war crimes, and not limiting the spread of fake news and COVID-19 misinformation on their platform, as well as allowing incitement of violence against multiple groups.
Human rights in Hungary are governed by the Constitution of Hungary, laws passed by the National Assembly, and oversight of international organizations such as the Council of Europe. Human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have raised concern for the status of human rights in Hungary under the rule of Viktor Orbán and the Fidesz party since 2010.
Human rights in Slovakia are governed by the laws of Slovakia and overseen by international organizations such as the Council of Europe.
Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code lays down the punishment for the deliberate and malicious acts, that are intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs. It is one of the Hate speech laws in India. This law prohibits blasphemy against all religions in India.
In internet slang, rage-baiting is the manipulative tactic of eliciting outrage with the goal of increasing internet traffic, online engagement, revenue and support. Rage baiting or farming can be used as a tool to increase engagement, attract subscribers, followers, and supporters, which can be financially lucrative. Rage baiting and rage farming manipulates users to respond in kind to offensive, inflammatory headlines, memes, tropes, or comments.