As a short excursion away from the ECHR, permit me to draw your attention to an article I just published in the Human Rights Quarterly. In the article I introduce the notion of “fear speech” as a complement to the well-known notion of “hate speech”. I have endeavored to connect insights from the field of conflict studies to the way in which legal scholars and practitioners deal with freedom of expression in situations of risks of violence. The article is entitled “Words of Violence: “Fear Speech,” or How Violent Conflict Escalation Relates to the Freedom of Expression” and was published in no. 4 of vol. 36 (November 2014). This is the abstract:
The limits of the freedom of expression are a perennial discussion in human rights discourse. This article focuses on identifying yardsticks to establish the boundaries of freedom of expression in cases where violence is a risk. It does so by using insights from the social sciences on the escalation of violent conflict. By emphasizing the interaction between violence and discourse, and its effect on antagonisms between groups, it offers an interdisciplinary perspective on an ongoing legal debate. It introduces the notion of “fear speech” and argues that it may be much more salient in this context than hate speech.
