ABSTRACT
Chapter 6 analyzes non-binding initiatives related to hate speech and human rights regulation adopted at international and regional levels. They are complementary to the binding treaties. Often, they are more ambitious as they can be quickly adopted and they can better target the hate-related challenges for democracies. Some of them offer a definition of hate speech, some of them encouraged the adoption of public policy, and some of them even suggested a threshold test for hate speech cases for public prosecutors and judges. The study of soft law sources offers the possibility of understanding incitement to hatred as incitement to violence, discrimination, and denial of human dignity. They emphasize the importance of the rule of law and the application of democratic principles to effectively combat hate speech. At the same time they warn about the misuse or vague restrictions of free speech by non-democratic political or judicial actors. Most of them advocate for a complex inclusive, and not only a legalistic, approach to tackling the phenomena of hate spin in contemporary democracies.
