What is incitement?

While there is no consensus on hate speech, the notion of incitement to hatred is well established in international human rights law. Article 20, paragraph 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) states that “any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law.”

 As such, ‘incitement’ refers to statements about national, racial or religious groups, and create an imminent risk of discrimination, hostility or violence against persons belonging to those groups.

 In the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights definition, the term ‘advocacy’ requires the intention to promote hatred publicly towards the target groups. As stated in the UN Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech, “incitement is a very dangerous form of speech, because it explicitly and deliberately aims at triggering discrimination, hostility and violence, which may also lead to or include terrorism or atrocity crimes”.




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