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United Kingdom
“The Government upholds freedom of expression, provided this does not stir up hatred or violence.”
-Home Office website
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How do you mark the boundary between free speech and
hate speech? Imperfectly, usually. The UK, which prides itself on
a tradition of free expression, allows extremists to say what they
want, as long as it doesn't contravene race hatred legislation. In
practice, this means extremists such as Abdul Haq, a British–born
member of a group called al-Muhajiroun, can be quoted as saying,
“When they bomb London, the bigger the better,” and Saudi
dissident Mohamed Al–Masari can run a website from his London
home that gives instructions on how British Muslims can join the
jihad (holy war) against their own country. The British National
Party, meanwhile, a far–right racist political party, can freely
broadcast political messages on TV. But there is a boundary, however
blurred it might be: When extremist preacher Abdullah el–Faisal
sanctioned the use of nuclear weapons in a country that was “100–
percent nonbelievers,” and
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| “The UK, which prides itself on
a tradition of free expression, allows extremists to say what they
want, as long as it doesn't contravene race hatred legislation. “ |
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sold recordings of his speeches, a court
convicted him of inciting racial hatred and soliciting to murder, the
first person to be prosecuted on such a charge in 100 years.
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