{"id":14062,"date":"2014-06-20T13:20:21","date_gmt":"2014-06-20T18:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/as-fifa-attempts-to-curb-racism-at-the-world-cup-a-look-at-hate-speech-laws-worldwide\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:21:21","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:21:21","slug":"as-fifa-attempts-to-curb-racism-at-the-world-cup-a-look-at-hate-speech-laws-worldwide","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2014\/06\/20\/as-fifa-attempts-to-curb-racism-at-the-world-cup-a-look-at-hate-speech-laws-worldwide\/","title":{"rendered":"As FIFA attempts to curb racism at the World Cup, a look at hate speech laws worldwide"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hate<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

Reports of racist and xenophobic slurs against players<\/a> and fans have continued to emerge during the World Cup<\/a>. Two fans were arrested last weekend after chanting racist remarks<\/a> during the match featuring Argentina vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina.<\/p>\n\n

In an attempt to combat hate speech during the tournament, FIFA and Brazilian authorities initiated an anti-racism campaign<\/a> using the hashtag #SayNoToRacism. Hate speech is taken seriously in Brazil, where racist<\/a> or religiously intolerant speech or actions<\/a> are prohibited by law and carry penalties including imprisonment.<\/p>\n\n

Brazil is not the only country with a law that penalizes hate speech. A new Pew Research analysis finds hate speech laws in 89 countries around the world (45%), according to 2012 data. In some countries, the laws protect only certain religious or social groups, while others have broader laws, covering words or actions that insult, denigrate or intimidate a person or group based on race, gender, religion, ethnicity or other traits.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Although these laws are on the books, in some countries they are not enforced. However, in countries where penalties are imposed for hate speech, they often include fines or short-term jail sentences. A spectator in Spain was arrested earlier this year<\/a> on suspicion of throwing a banana at a Brazilian player, and in 2012, a man in the United Kingdom received a jail sentence<\/a> for posting racist and offensive comments on Twitter after a player collapsed on the field.<\/p>\n\n

Laws against hate speech are most common in Europe, where 84% of countries (38 of 45) have such laws or policies (as of 2012). In 2008, the European Union passed a framework decision to combat hate speech<\/a> and other expressions of racism and xenophobia \u2013 although member states have yet to consistently enforce<\/a> the decision. In France, inciting racial or ethnic hatred is illegal, and noncitizens may be deported for such actions<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Some European countries have hate speech laws in place that include policies specifically targeting soccer and other sporting events. In the United Kingdom, for instance, the Football Offences Act<\/a> (initially passed in 1991) prohibits racist chanting at football matches. In Spain<\/a>, it is illegal to incite hatred because of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, nationality or sexual orientation, and athletic teams and stadiums can face sanctions<\/a> for \u201cactions that disparage religion if committed by professional athletic clubs, players or fans during sporting events,\u201d according to the U.S. State Department.<\/p>\n\n

Similar measures are in effect in nine of the 20 countries in the Middle East-North Africa region (45%) and more than a third of the countries in the Asia-Pacific region (38%, or 19 of 50). In Indonesia, for example, it is illegal to incite hatred<\/a> toward individuals or community groups because of race, religion or ethnicity.<\/p>\n\n

Hate speech laws were present in a quarter of countries in sub-Saharan Africa as of 2012 (12 of the 48 countries) and about three-in-ten countries in the Americas (31%, 11 of 35).<\/p>\n\n

In the United States, courts have traditionally struck down attempts to limit hate speech. Most recently, during a 2011 case involving one of the Westboro Baptist Church\u2019s anti-gay protests at a military funeral (Snyder v. Phelps<\/a>)<\/em>, the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed the First Amendment\u2019s protection of free speech. Athletes occasionally\u00a0encounter racist comments in the United States, often on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

This analysis is based on our ongoing research on global restrictions on religion. For more on our sources and procedures, see our <\/em>most recent report<\/em><\/a> on the topic.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hate-speech laws exist in 89 countries around the world (45%). In some countries, the laws protect only certain religious or social groups, while others have broader laws, covering words or actions that insult, denigrate or intimidate a person or group based on race, gender, religion, ethnicity or other traits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":297,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":null,"sub_title":"","_crdt_document":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"bylines":[{"key":"a508035926b1d0b4c5c0f44f91f4a749","termId":928}],"acknowledgements":[],"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[255,30,173,28,141,174,168],"bylines":[928],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[517],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-14062","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-gender-demographics","category-gender-lgbtq","category-international-religious-freedom-restrictions","category-race-ethnicity","category-racial-bias-discrimination","category-religious-demographics","category-religious-freedom-restrictions","bylines-angelina-e-theodorou","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-religion"],"label":"Short Read","post_parent":0,"word_count":549,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2014\/06\/20\/as-fifa-attempts-to-curb-racism-at-the-world-cup-a-look-at-hate-speech-laws-worldwide\/","art_direction":{"A1":{"id":26118,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/06\/FT_14.06.20_hateSpeechLaws.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/06\/FT_14.06.20_hateSpeechLaws.png?w=564&h=317&crop=1","width":564,"height":317,"chartArt":false},"A2":{"id":26118,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/06\/FT_14.06.20_hateSpeechLaws.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/06\/FT_14.06.20_hateSpeechLaws.png?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"A3":{"id":26118,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/06\/FT_14.06.20_hateSpeechLaws.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/06\/FT_14.06.20_hateSpeechLaws.png?w=194&h=110&crop=1","width":194,"height":110,"chartArt":false},"A4":{"id":26118,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/06\/FT_14.06.20_hateSpeechLaws.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/06\/FT_14.06.20_hateSpeechLaws.png?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"XL":{"id":26118,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/06\/FT_14.06.20_hateSpeechLaws.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/06\/FT_14.06.20_hateSpeechLaws.png?w=640&h=405&crop=1","width":640,"height":405,"chartArt":false},"social":{"id":26118,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/06\/FT_14.06.20_hateSpeechLaws.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/06\/FT_14.06.20_hateSpeechLaws.png?w=640&h=518&crop=1","width":640,"height":518,"chartArt":false}},"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"As FIFA attempts to curb racism at the World Cup, a look at hate speech laws worldwide","description":"Hate-speech laws exist in 89 countries around the world (45%). 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