HATE SPEECH AND ITS DIRECT INFLUENCE ON SOCIAL STRATIFICATION OF INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS

Hate speech is first and foremost a social and a cultural problem, as its legal regulation is encumbered by the complexity of determining its notion and the distinction between freedom of expression as a fundamental human right and basic democratic value of modern society, and hate speech as a negative phenomenon that must be subjected to penal measures and legal bans. This distinction should be drawn and fixed by criminal legislation in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights, which generally and expressly regulates the relationship between freedom of expression and its restrictions (Article 10), as well as with the positions of the European Court of Human Rights on hate speech.¹ Hate speech is understood as an expression of hatred toward a particular group. It is used to offend a person on the basis of the racial, ethnic, religious or other affiliation of the said person. Such speech basically strives to condemn or dehumanize an individual or a group, or to express anger, hatred, violence, or contempt toward them. It conveys a message of inferiority of the members of the concerned group, and expresses condemnation, humiliation and excessive hatred. All racist, xenophobic, homophobic, and other related declensions of identity-attacking expression intrinsically fall under the notion of hate speech². Certain individuals and groups can express ideas of superiority of a particular race, religion, or nation with the intention of humiliating all those who do not belong to their "group" and call for persecution, isolation, and even genocide. In such cases, freedom of expression is interpreted too broadly and it turns into hate speech. This paper analyzes the negative direct impact on the social division in our region, as well as its negative consequences on the destruction of human individual and morality, the destruction of human relations and the intensification of interethnic conflicts, etc. The paper also analyzes the main international documents adopted by the Council of Europe for proper identification of this problem and its prevention.

Biljana Paneva Parleeva