Hate-speech not protected by Article 10 ECHR: Belkacem v Belgium

In a unanimous judgment, the European Court of Human Rights has confirmed that hate-speech is not protected by the right to freedom of expression under Article 10 ECHR.

In Belkacem v Belgium [2017] ECHR No 34367/14 [in French], the applicant had been convicted of various infractions of Article 22 of the Law of 10 May 2007 on combating certain forms of discrimination: in particular, that he had posted videos on YouTube in which he was seen making grossly inflammatory statements about the then Minister of Defence of Belgium [4] and that he had harassed the husband of a Belgian politician after her death by posting a video saying that she would spend eternity in Hell [5]. Continue reading