Activities of Alice KUHNKE related to 2023/2068(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Extending the list of EU crimes to hate speech and hate crime (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on extending the list of EU crimes to hate speech and hate crime
Amendments (29)
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 22 a (new)
Citation 22 a (new)
– Having regard to the 2022 ILGA- Europe report “ILGA-Europe’s Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of LGBTI People in Europe and Central Asia”
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas any form of discrimination based on any ground such as sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation as laid down in Article 21 of the Charter is prohibited; whereas, within the scope of the Treaties and without prejudice to any of their specific provisions, any discrimination on grounds of nationality is also prohibited; whereas following the broad interpretation by the CJEU, the ground of ‘sex’ should be understood broadly to encompass all forms of discrimination related to gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics1a _________________ 1a Judgment of the Court of Justice of 30 April 1994, P v S, C-13/94, ECLI:EU:C:1996:170; Judgment of the Court of Justice of 7 January 2004, K.B., C-117/01, ECLI:EU:C:2004:7; Judgment of the Court of Justice of 27 April 2006, Richards, C-423/04, ECLI:EU:C:2006:256; Judgment of the Court of Justice of 26 June 2018, M.B., C-451/16, ECLI:EU:C:2018:492
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas tackling xenophobia, racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia as well as other forms of prejudice, intolerance and hatred against certain individuals or societal groups requires the EU and its Member States to develop a holistic and multi-pronged policy and legislative response, in close collaboration with relevant stakeholders including civil society organizations, media outlets and social media platforms; whereas the enforcement of fundamental rights through EU criminal law constitutes a measure of last resort, being the most severe response available to the legislator to prevent or repress violations of fundamental rights and freedoms protected at the EU level; whereas hate crime and hate speech must also be combated by other significant measures; whereas the development and use of criminal law at EU level is underpinned by the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas the inclusion of new areas of crime in the list provided under Article 83(1) TFEU is possible to the extent that such crimes are of particularly serious nature, have a cross-border dimension resulting from the nature or impact of the offense, or from a special need to combat them on a common basis;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas hate speech and hate crime arcan constitute particularly serious crimes and affect not only the individual victims and their communities, causing them suffering and limiting their fundamental rights and freedoms, but also society as a whole, undermining the foundations of the EU;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas not all hate speech constitutes a crime but it does contribute to normalising manifestations of hatred and intolerance; whereas forms of hate speech that do not constitute a crime can be tackled through different means, including civil or administrative proceedings but also the activation of restorative justice processes; whereas education systems need to provide digital education, literacy and skills for everyone in order to promote users’ understanding of digital technologies, overcome inequalities, improve digital inclusion, and empower and protect individuals and their rights online and offline; whereas equipping individuals with digital education, literacy and skills is key to promote a safe digital space and to prevent online hate speech; whereas education, training and awareness-raising activities are essential to promote gender equality and to address the root causes of hate speech, in particular gender stereotypes;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas in the last few decades there has been a sharp rise in discrimination, hate crime and hate speech across the EU4 , an increase in various forms of racism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia and other forms of intolerance and an alarming spike in online and offline hate speech and incitement; whereas this2022 was the most violent year for LGBTIQ+ persons in over a decade; whereas the rise in discrimination is being exacerbated in many Member States by extremist and populist movements, in many cases in national parliaments and governments, and the multiplier effect of the online environment and social media, which favours revictimisation; _________________ 4 See, for instawhereas there is evidence, the Annual Report on ECRI’s activities coverat hate-motivated incidents, including violence and harassment, continue to be underreported ing the period from 1 January to 31 December 2019 and the Annual Report on ECRI’s activities covering the period from 1 January to 31 December 2020, and the study commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs entitled ‘Hate speech and hateEU; whereas groups put in vulnerable situations such as asylum seekers, refugees and migrants, racialized people, LGBTIQ+ people, people with disabilities, people with socioeconomic disadvantaged backgrounds, face greater barriers to reporting hate-motivated crimes; whereas the failure to address the lack of trust and confidence in the law enforcement authorities and in the judicial system by victims of hate-motivated crimes in the EU and the evaluation of online content regulation approaches’, July 2020.s an important contributor for underreporting1b _________________ 1b https://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra _uploads/fra-2021-hate-crime- reporting_en.pdf
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas groups put in vulnerable situations such as asylum seekers, refugees and migrants, racialized people, LGBTIQ+ people, ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities, indigenous communities, people with disabilities and people with socioeconomic disadvantaged backgrounds are a recurring targets of hate speech, including online; whereas minors are particularly vulnerable victims of hate speech and hate crime; and whereas such attacks endanger their physical and mental integrity and affect their development and mental health;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas minority groups and indigenous communities such as the Sami people are impacted by multiple and intersectional forms of discrimination; whereas multiple and intersectional discrimination is fertile ground for hate speech and hate crimes to occur; whereas hate speech and hate crime directed at minority groups and indigenous communities such as the Sami people coupled with the lack of protection, put them in an even more vulnerable situation;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas Member States do not address hate speech and hate crime in the same way in their respective criminal laws,; which makes it difficult to define a common European strategy to combat itereas the lack of legal protection can have devastating consequences for victims of such crimes;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas the current EU framework only covers hate speech and hate crimes on the grounds of race, skin colour, religion, descent and national or ethnic origin; whereas there is a clear need to effectively address hate speech and hate crimes based on any other grounds, such as sex, sexual orientation, age and disability protected under Article 21 of the Charter;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas the cross-border component of online hate speech and hate crime is clear; whereas the digital transformation highlights the need to address this phenomenon at a European level; is clear; whereas the intrinsic cross-border dimension of online hate speech raises the need to combat it on a common basis; whereas the digital transformation highlights the need to address this phenomenon at a European level; whereas criminalisation of hate speech at the EU level needs to notably target public incitement to violence or hatred, or speech that denies or minimizes genocide and crimes against humanity, or that glorifies war and war crimes, as well as cyberstalking and the publication of online threats;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I a (new)
Recital I a (new)
Ia. Whereas the protection against hate crime and hate speech is unequal across the union; whereas the EU has the responsibility to ensure that forms of hate crime that are particularly serious, and notably hate crimes of violent nature, that have a cross-border dimension, and serious forms of cyber-violence motivated by biases or other perceived characteristics of a person or group, are criminalised consistently across the Union;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas the response of EU criminal law to hate speech and hate crime should be strong and proportionate in order to duly protect the victim and give due weight to freedom of expression; whereas criminalisation is one tool out of many to combat these crimes;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas thehate speech is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon that has far-reaching consequences for human rights and rule of law in democratic societies such as affecting civil society participation and inclusion; whereas the main fundamental right that is protected in the fight against hate speech and hate crime is human dignity; whereas such protection shouldmust be universal; whereas protection against intolerance, be it racial, national origin, sexual orientation, religion, ideology, age, opinion or any other personal, physical or social condition or circumstance, whatever its form of expression, must not be limited to certain grounds or motivations;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas changes in social dynamics change andand the lack of education and training to ensure safe relations and pro- social behaviour can generate new motivations for hate speech and hate crime that have to be addressed by the common EU framework; whereas it is essential to tackle the root causes of hate speech and hate crime in order to effectively combat them;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas this Council decision would be a first step in creating the necessary legal basis to adopt, as a second step, a common legal framework to combat hate speech and hate crime across the EU; whereas such a common legal framework is urgently needed to combat hate speech and hate crimeestablish minimum standards concerning the definition of criminal offences and sanctions on a common European basis in order to ensure consistent protection of the potential victims of such actshate crime and hate speech across the Union;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Urges the Council to adopt a decision to include hate speech and hate crime as among the criminal offences within the list under Article 83(1) TFEU, so that the Commission can initiate the second stage of the procedure;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recalls that Member States’ criminal laws deal with hate speech and hate crime in different ways, that minimum rules at EU level exist only when such crimes are based on race, skindirected against a groups of persons or a member of such group defined by reference to race, colour, religion, descent or national or ethnic origin, which makes it difficult to implement a successful common strategy to combat hatred; underlines that the Commission has been monitoring the transposition of the Framework Decision in the legal systems of the Member States and that problems with its correct transposition and implementation persist; notes that biases, prejudice, or hatred on grounds other than race, colour, religion, descent or national or ethnic origin as the motivation, in whole or in part, for a criminal act do not currently constitute an aggravating circumstance in all EU Member States;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Underlines that general provisions of legal protection risk leaving individuals and groups in vulnerable situations unprotected and that contributes to an uneven level of protection across the EU; is concerned that victims of hate speech and hate crime who suffer intersectional discrimination are put in an even more vulnerable situation; recalls that intersectional discrimination, which is rooted in social and gender inequality, reinforces oppression and is fertile ground for hate speech and hate crime to occur; highlights that intersectionality should be used as an analytic tool to zoom in on the interconnectedness of various grounds of discrimination; calls on the Commission to ensure that a robust EU legal protection framework is put in place so that victims are effectively protected; recalls that legal protection for victims must have an intersectional approach and cover the specific needs of individuals and groups put in vulnerable situations;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Recalls that successful negotiations require concessionspolitical will in order to achieve a result that satisfies the common interest and respects European values;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Emphasises that future EU legislation to cover hate speech and hate crimesestablish minimum standards concerning the definition of criminal offences and sanctions is needed to effectively tackle hate speech and hate crimes of serious nature and with a cross- border dimension; underlines that EU criminal law must protect human dignity and combat hatred and intolerance irrespective of the motivation; recalls that protection must be universal, with a special focus on targeted persons, groups and communities in vulnerable situations which are the main targets;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Recalls that freedom of expression should not be exploited as a shield for hate speech and hate crimes, but neither should it be unjustifiably restricted; stresses that misuses of the internet for the purpose of disseminate content deliberately meant to amplify racist, misogynist, xenophobic, or transphobic sentiments, or to dehumanise certain groups or individuals, well as cyberstalking and the publication of online threats constitute particularly serious forms of hate speech that should be investigated and prosecuted across the EU and that those found guilty are effectively sanctioned, regardless of their official status;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Calls on the Commission to take additional measures inensure the correct implementation of current legislation such as the DSA in order to countering the dissemination of illegal hate speech in online content on account of the impact of; stresses that the multiplier effect of the online environment and social media contributes to revictimisation; recalls that the business model of social media platforms, based on micro-targeted advertising, contributes in spreading and amplifying hate speech inciting discrimination and violence;
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls on the Commission to give particular consideration to minors, in particular minors belonging to groups put in vulnerable situations, so as to give them special protection from hate speech and hate crimes, to prevent these incidents from occurring and to minimise their impact on minors’ development and mental health; further calls on the Commission to step up efforts to ensure the legal protection of groups in vulnerable situations, such as asylum seekers, refugees and migrants, racialized people, LGBTIQ+ people, ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities, indigenous communities, people with disabilities, people with socioeconomic disadvantaged backgrounds; recalls that ensuring the legal protection of victims would create a safe environment which would contribute to enhanced reporting; underlines that enhanced reporting is necessary to guarantee that quality, comparable and disaggregated data collection is available, which is essential to document hate speech and hate crimes;
Amendment 194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to introduce an obligation for authorities competent for the detection, investigation, prosecution, and adjudication of criminal offences across the EU to adequately take into account facts that are indicative of biases, prejudice, hatred or discriminatory motives of a criminal offense, including when such offense is committed by public authorities and officials;
Amendment 198 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 b (new)
Paragraph 13 b (new)
13b. Stresses that victims of hate crime and speech should be able to report their experiences to competent authorities and be protected and supported, and that such authorities should be required to register the incidents appropriately, and that perpetrators should be held to account; recalls that properly recording and investigating hate speech and hate crimes is essential to document discrimination and racism, as well as to counter bias, prejudice, and intolerance in society; further stresses that equipping competent authorities with the soft skills to carefully listen, understand and respect victims of hate speech and hate-motivated crimes, can help address underreporting, re- victimisation and create a safer environment for victims; recalls that ensuring affordable and safe access to an independent justice system is indispensable to promote a safer environment for victims of hate speech and hate-motivated crimes;
Amendment 204 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to establish adequate data collection systems for obtaining solid and homogenous, comparable and disaggregated data on anonymous hate incidents, including hate crimes, in accordance with the relevant national legal frameworks and EU data protection legislation, as well as adequate monitoring mechanisms to assess the impact that policies and regulationmeasures have on the fight against hate speech and hate crimes;