Hate speech reforms: protections and pitfalls

An ANZAPPL Vic soirée with Michael Stanton SC

New federal and state laws have been introduced intending to protect vulnerable groups and individuals against hate speech. While many in the community have advocated for these kinds of reforms, there is growing disquiet that these new laws could be weaponised and may in fact have a chilling effect on legitimate political expression and protest rights. At the Federal level, some of these new hate speech offences now attract mandatory imprisonment. Further, the evolution of these laws has demonstrated a concerning lack of consolation with affected communities who have warned of unintended consequences. The laws have now expanded to a point where there is a real issue as to whether they will be arbitrarily applied and whether they undermine a fundamental principle of the rule of law: that laws be certain and applied equally. 

Michael Stanton SC is a criminal lawyer with a strong focus on civil liberties and human rights and is the Immediate Past President of Liberty Victoria. In this presentation, he will give a brief survey of the new landscape of anti-vilification laws and consider some of the difficulties with attempting to prohibit hate speech.

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