How are expressions of hate speech via radio, video or television handled?
Have the boundaries of freedom of speech been crossed? Then the court with competence to handle the case depends on the medium in which the statements were made.
Statements made via video, radio or television will be brought before a criminal court.
Example
A man shares videos encouraging violence against homosexuals. He can be prosecuted in criminal court.
This is not the case for texts on paper or in digital form. They fall within the category of press offences and must be handled by an assize court. Because the procedure for an assize court is complex and expensive, press offences are not prosecuted in practice.
Example
A man distributes texts encouraging violence against homosexuals. He cannot be prosecuted in criminal court because it is considered a press offence, for which an assize court has competence, and in practice, it will not be prosecuted.
The law makes an exception for press offences with a racist or xenophobic motive: these will effectively be brought before a criminal court.
Unia is calling for all press offences to be handled in criminal court, regardless of the motive. Read more about press offences.