Hate Speech Legislation in Iceland: Legal Developments and Parliamentary Discourse

• In Event: Hate crimes

Abstract

In 1967, Iceland ratified the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) of 1965, committing to ensuring equality among individuals and preventing one group from asserting superiority over others—an ideology that had fuelled the attempted extermination of Jewish people, disabled individuals, Roma communities, and LGBTQ+ individuals under Nazi Germany. As part of the convention’s implementation, Iceland introduced Article 233(a) into the General Penal Code in 1973, prohibiting public expressions that ridicule, defame, demean, or threaten individuals based on nationality, skin color, race, or religion. Over time, the law has expanded to include additional protected characteristics, such as gender identity, and extend protections to individuals. However, the law has been rarely applied, with the first conviction occurring in 2000, followed by another in 2017, and only a few rulings since. Recently, parliament introduced proposals to alter the procedural rules of hate speech, making it more challenging to prosecute hate speech cases. Additionally, in response to the Council of Europe’s 2022 Recommendations on Combating Hate Speech, the Prime Minister proposed a National Action Plan against Hate Speech (2023–2026). However, the action plan received little parliamentary support and was not passed during the 2022–2023 legislative session, nor has it been revisited. This paper examines how parliamentary discussions and public statements by members of Alþingi have shaped the framing and implementation of hate speech legislation in Iceland, and what these discourses reveal about the ideological and political underpinnings of these developments. This analysis provides insight into Iceland’s legal approach to hate speech, its evolving political discourse, and its broader implications for human rights protections.

Authors

• Eyrún Eyþórsdóttir, University of Akureyri, Iceland

• Hildur Fjóla Antonsdottir, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Akureyri, Iceland