"The Freedom of Expression Institute sought to prepare a module on Hate speech in South Africa with the aim of providing basic insight on the framework of hate speech as an aspect of freedom of expression to individuals, communities, social groups and civil society in general. This comes out of the
...
need to address remnants of the apartheid era institutionalised racism that have manifested themselves among certain communities and groups in the form of hate speech. There is a need to educate the wider public in efforts to clarify what exactly hate speech is and in that be in a position to address it decisively. The concept of hate speech makes reference to speech that attacks the person or group to whom it is targeted on the basis of hatred or incitement of harm. In South Africa hate speech provisions are still underdeveloped and there is a need to look to development through case law." (Preface, page 3)
more
"The contributors to this volume consider whether it is possible to establish carefully tailored hate speech policies that are cognizant of the varying traditions, histories, and values of different countries. Throughout, there is a strong comparative emphasis, with examples (and authors) drawn from
...
around the world. All the authors explore whether or when different cultural and historical setting justify different substntive rules given that such cultural relativism can be used to justify content-based restrictions and so endanger freedom of expression." (Back cover)
more
"To summarize a very expansive set of standards and concomitant strategies, it can be said that the three main prongs to the Council of Europe's approach to countering "hate speech" are: (1) the prevention / prohibition / punishment of certain types of expression (e.g., incitement to hatred, racist
...
expression); (2) the facilitation and creation of expressive and communicative opportunities for minorities; and relatedly, (3) the promotion of tolerance, understanding, and integroup / intercultural dialogue. By virtue of their agenda-setting and forum-providing capacities, the media are specifically implicated in many of the strategies employed, but in a way that is deferential to their operational autonomy." (Conclusion, page 497)
more