LibGuides: Fighting against hate, extremism and polarisation: The 27 EU Member States

EU Member States

What are some of the main issues in the EU Member States concerning hate, polarisation and extremism?

AUSTRIA - The online content law

EU’s top court rules against Austria’s content moderation law
The European Court of Justice sided on Thursday 9 November 2023 with tech giants TikTok, Meta, and Alphabet’s Google against Austrian online content law regulating how platforms should deal with harmful and illegal content.
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EURACTIV, Nov 9, 2023
Austria’s online hate speech law prompts question marks about ‘overblocking’
In the fight against illegal online content , the Austrian government wants to make platforms more accountable. Many details are still missing, but the German Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG) seems to be a model. Critics fear over-blocking and collateral damage but also see opportunities. EURACTIV Germany reports.
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EURACTIV, 2020

BELGIUM - Social polarisation and (violent) extremism

"Polarisation sociale et extrémismes (violents): quels constats en Belgique francophone?"
Au travers de ces différents entretiens, l’objectif a été de formuler des observations sur les évolutions des phénomènes d’extrémisme et de radicalisme violents et sur les méthodologies mises en oeuvre, à partir des différentes missions des services ou des initiatives propres. Des pistes de réflexion s’en dégagent.
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Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles
La polarisation dans la société devient un phénomène structurel, selon la Sûreté de l'État
Selon son rapport sur l'année 2020, on ne peut plus parler d'un phénomène temporaire. "La polarisation et l'insatisfaction dans notre pays ont désormais pris une telle ampleur que nous ne pouvons plus parler de phénomène temporaire.
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La Libre - 09-11-2021

BULGARIA - Hate and extremist groups

Bulgaria – Macro-drivers of radicalisation and violent extremism
Bulgaria’s approach to countering and preventing radicalisation has been influenced by the European Union (EU)’s evolving understanding of radicalisation as a home-grown problem that also requires soft measures. This understanding was adopted as the basis for the Bulgarian Strategy for Countering Radicalisation and Terrorism (2015-2020).
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CONNEKT - 07 September 2021
Far-Right Hate and Extremist Groups
Bulgaria has been criticized by most international bodies, including the UN, EU, and others for rampant hatred, discrimination, and violence against its minority communities.
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Global Extremism

CROATIA - Ethnic intolerance and hate speech

Croatia: Despite progress, discrimination persists against national minorities such as Serbs and Roma, says national minorities committee
n its Fifth Opinion on Croatia, the Council of Europe’s Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities acknowledges that the country’s legislative framework for national minorities is “overall in conformity with the provisions of the Framework Convention”. But discrimination towards persons belonging to certain groups “persists”, notably for Roma and Serb national minorities, including returnees.
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Council of Europe - 10 JUNE 2021
Ethnic Intolerance, Hate Speech Persists in Croatia: Report
Human Rights House Zagreb said in its annual report published on Friday that “as in previous years, war crimes prosecutions were stagnant” in Croatia in 2019, while hate speech and intolerance toward minorities persisted in the public arena and the digital environment.
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Balkan Insight, 2020

CYPRUS - Ombudsman and hate speech

Ombudsman’s statement on hate speech and its implications on promoting racism and xenophobia
In Cyprus, on July 13, 2021, the Commissioner for Administration and the Protection of Human Rights, in the framework of its competences as an Equality Body, issued a Statement regarding the phenomenon of speech that promotes/incites racism and xenophobia and the specific implications that such speech has when it is expressed online through the internet.
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International Ombudsman Institute
Countering Hate Crime in Cyprus: Cooperation between National Stakeholders
On July 13, 2021, Cyprus Ombudswoman and Commissioner for Administration and Protection of Human Rights Maria Stylianou-Lottides released a statement regarding the phenomenon of speech that promotes/incites racism and xenophobia and the specific implications that such speech has when it is expressed online through the internet.

CZECHIA - Radicalisation and extremism

Radicalization of Czech society: a new phenomenon, or the result of long-term developments?
In recent months, we have seen anti-government protests growing in both frequency and size in the Czech Republic. What is it that draws increasing numbers of people to these demonstrations? Is this a new phenomenon, or are the crowds composed exclusively of individuals who had been radicalized in earlier periods? Why is it that they are taking to the streets now, and not a year – or five years – ago?
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Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung
Interior Ministry warns of rising threat of extremism to democracy in Czechia
The Interior Ministry’s latest report on the manifestations of extremism in Czechia warns of groups of people who have the potential to threaten the democratic foundations of the Czech Republic. According to the report, the potential is already there, but could increase even further.
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Radio Prague International - 02/06/2023

DENMARK - Political polarisation

Danish Public Opinion: Stability, Change, and Polarization
Citizens’ political opinions provide an essential input to the democratic process that governments must respond to or at least engage with. This chapter provides an overview of public opinion toward four major political issues in Denmark: economic distribution, immigration, the environment, and the European Union.
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Dinesen, Peter Thisted, Rune Slothuus, and Rune Stubager, 'Danish Public Opinion: Stability, Change, and Polarization', in Peter Munk Christiansen, Jørgen Elklit, and Peter Nedergaard (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Danish Politics, Oxford Handbooks (2020; online edn, Oxford Academic, 6 Aug. 2020),
News Media and Political Attitudes in Denmark
This publication contains specific findings about news media attitudes and habits in Denmark. The findings come from a Pew Research Center survey about news media and politics.
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PEW RESEARCH CENTER - MAY 17, 2018

ESTONIA - Rise of political extremism

ISS: Rise of extremism in Estonia continues to be of concern
Rising radicalization and the propagation of extremist and terrorist ideologies are concern for the Internal Security Service (ISS), the organization says in its 2020/2021 yearbook. Quelling the problem before it gets out of hand is essential, and the issue is one which society as a whole must be aware of, the authority said.
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ERR News - 12.04.2021
Extremism in a classroom: topics discussed and Estonian teachers' experiences and self-reflective choices
The study examines educators' experiences in discussing topics related to extremism with students and colleagues and an overview of topics that students have raised. It also answers whether educators self-censorship themselves in discussing topics related to extremism and if so, what are the reasons for doing that.
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March 2022. Society Register 6(1):107-128

FINLAND - Media, hate speech and extremism

Extremist speech online and in the Finnish news media
his study examines expressions of extremist ideologies and beliefs in the Finnish language media environment. It approaches the topic from two angles by looking at 1) online speech that approves of the use of violence or dehumanizes other people and 2) the national news media’s handling of violent extremism and the ideologies and beliefs
connected to the phenomenon.
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Prime Minister’s Office, Helsinki 2021
Far-right racism scandals rock Finland, pressure new PM
Finland’s new prime minister has had his honeymoon period savagely cut short by two racism scandals that have thrown his government into turmoil. Center-right leader Petteri Orpo, widely regarded as a dependable political operator, is already watching the uproar undercut one of his key strategic moves: The decision to team up with the far-right Finns Party in government.
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POLITICO - July 11, 2023

FRANCE - hate speech laws

French constitutional court strikes down most of hate speech law
in June 2020, France's highest constitutional body struck down most of a controversial bill requiring online platforms such as Google and Facebook to remove hateful content within 24 hours and terrorist propaganda within one hour.
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POLITICO - JUNE 18, 2020
Mapping hate in France: A panoramic view of online discourse
This report presents the findings of a research project investigating the scale and nature of online hateful speech in France. It examines different categories of hateful speech, spanning race, gender, sexuality, religion and disability.
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22 January 2020 - Institute for Strategic Dialogue

GERMANY - Political extremisms

Rightwing extremist views increasingly widespread in Germany, study finds
Rightwing extremist and anti-democratic attitudes are becoming increasingly widespread in Germany, according to a study examining the public’s political views. Findings show 8% of population have extremist attitudes, while 16.5% accused Jewish people of wanting to ‘take advantage’ of Nazi past
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The Guardian - 21 September 2023
Left-wing extremism in Germany: How much of a threat is it?
Germany's domestic intelligence agency says left-wing extremism is growing. In its latest report, published last year, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) recorded a rise in the number of "violence-oriented" left-wing extremists of around 700 to 10,300 from 2020 to 2021.
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Deutsche Welle - June 3, 2023

GREECE - Political polarisation

Political Polarisation in Greece: The Prespa Agreement, Left/Right Antagonism and the Nationalism/Populism Nexus
Following the signing of the Prespa Agreement in June 2018, the Macedonian name issue became the most prominent topic on the Greek political agenda, catalysing an exceptional political confrontation and contributing to the realignment of political parties and eventually to government change.
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South European Society and Politics
Volume 25, 2020 - Issue 3-4: The Politics of Polarisation in Southern Europe. Guest Editors: Anna Bosco and Susannah Verney
Dynamics of Polarization in the Greek Case
This article focuses on the dynamics of polarization emerging within Greek political culture in the postauthoritarian setting. Following a brief historical framing, we trace Left–Right polarization between the two major parties of the period: Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) and New Democracy (ND).
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Andreadis, I., & Stavrakakis, Y. (2019). Dynamics of Polarization in the Greek Case. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 681(1), 157-172. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716218817723

HUNGARY - Hate crimes

Hungary: police hate crime investigations are enhanced, but growing LGBTI stigmatisation and xenophobic political discourse raise concern
In a new report the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) welcomes positive developments in Hungary since adopting its last report on the country in 2015, but many issues raise concern.
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CoE - 9 MARCH 2023
National frameworks to address hate crime in Hungary
The Hungarian Police does not have a special unit responsible for recording or investigating hate crimes. However, a list of hate crime indicators to help police detect and classify hate crimes more precisely has been developed by criminal justice bodies and civil society groups. The Hungarian Police does not have special forms or templates for recording, reporting on or collecting data on hate crime cases.
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OSCE

IRELAND - Polarisation and misinformation

State risks polarisation and division as misinformation grows, warns Taoiseach
The Republic risks becoming more polarised as misinformation and divisive politics pose a growing threat to social solidarity and evidence-based policymaking, according to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
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The Irish Time - Nov 23 2023
Ireland is on the frontline of the battle against misinformation
Ireland is at the crossroads of a cultural change in the dissemination of information that is as significant as the invention of printing. Of the 19 largest online platforms identified by the EU as being subject to its Digital Services Act (DSA), 13 have their European headquarters in Ireland. Already EU-wide arbiters of data regulation through our Data Protection Commission (DPC), we are about to assume a significant role on content because of the location of those companies here.
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The Irish Times - Nov 20 2023

ITALY - Misinformation and polarisation

The disinformation landscape in Italy
The Italian disinformative landscape exploits salient, polarising, and audience-dividing topics. Deceptions are often based on real events and legitimate concerns, which are presented with false, misleading, or inaccurate information. Moreover, the same narratives are cyclically revived to adapt to different crises.
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Maria Giovanna Sessa, EU DisinfoLab - March 2023
The real threat to Italy’s election: Home-grown social media lies
Italian voters have a problem: separating the truth from the lies they read online. Despite concerns that Russia will try to meddle in the campaign, Italian politicians and social media influencers have so far played the greatest role in spreading election-related online falsehoods, based on an analysis by Digital Bridge, POLITICO's transatlantic tech newsletter.
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POLITICO - SEPTEMBER 20, 2022

LATVIA - Hate speech and euroscepticism

Hate speech and Euroscepticism in Latvia, National Report
Hate speech in Latvia is present in public spaces and online. Due to a growing usage of the internet and social networks it has become more visible.
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July 2022 - Publisher: Latvian Centre for Human Rights
Report on racism in Latvia: Hate speech and hate crime, better integration of Roma and refugees, and granting of citizenship
The Council of Europe Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) calls on Latvia to encourage the reporting of racist and homo-/transphobic hate crimes, promote the integration of vulnerable groups in education, language training, employment and health, and to provide for the automatic recognition of Latvian citizenship for children born to the so-called group of “non-citizens”.
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CoE - 5 MARCH 2019

LITHUANIA - Hate speech cases

EU court backs Lithuania in TV hate speech case
The EU’s top court sided with the Lithuanian authorities in a case dating back to 2016, when the Lithuanian Radio and Television Commission (LRTK) took action against the TV channel NTV Mir Lithuania, owned by British company Baltic Media Alliance, which mostly broadcasts programs in Russian.
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POLITICO - JULY 4, 2019
ECHR, Ruling condemns Lithuania for failing to act on online hate speech
In 2015, two Lithuanian young men, Pijus Beizaras and Mangirdas Levickas turned to a non-governmental organisation, the National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Association, of which they are both members, asking it to complain to the prosecuting authorities and to request that they initiate criminal proceedings for incitement to hatred and violence against homosexuals.

LUXEMBURG - Hate speech and discrimination

EU calls out Luxembourg on lack of hate speech laws
The European Commission has formally put Luxembourg on notice for failing to transpose EU laws criminalising hate speech and hate crimes.
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Cordula Schnuer - 02.12.2021
Amid progress, concerns raised over hate speech and discrimination in Luxembourg
Luxembourg has made significant progress in tackling racism and intolerance, according to Council of Europe experts, but some issues give rise to concern – including a sharp rise in hate speech, on-going discrimination against people with an immigrant background and the lack of legislation expressly prohibiting non-vital surgical interventions on intersex children.
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CoE - 19 SEPTEMBER 2023

MALTA - Hate crime and hate speech

Hate crime reports soar amid racism protests
The number of reports to Malta’s Hate Crime and Speech Unit has spiked amid a global anti-racism movement and increased local tensions over immigration.
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Times Malta - June 14, 2020
Riot exposes Malta’s hate speech problem At least a fifth of comments under one news report threatened death or violence
A migrant riot at the open centre in Ħal Far was met with a public outrage that quickly ballooned into disturbing violent and illegal hate speech on social media.
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Times Malta - October 22, 2019

NETHERLANDS - Polarisation

How to deal with increasing polarization in the Netherlands?
In his book, Beugelsdijk notes that a number of major trends have converged in the Netherlands over the past few decades, leading to heated debates, increasing intolerance, and polarization. These trends concern developments such as globalization, the changing role of the government and increasing individualism.
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15 November 2021
Polarisation in the Netherlands: how divided are we?
Exactly how divided are we in the Netherlands, and what role is polarisation likely to play in our upcoming elections? We discussed this with political scientist Eelco Harteveld, who has spent years studying the political lines that divide society. ‘Luckily, the way our electoral process is set up doesn't really facilitate polarisation.’
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26 January 2021

POLAND - Democracy and polarisation

Dysfunctional democracy and political polarisation: the case of Poland
The aim of this article is to analyse the dysfunctionalities of Polish democracy that has seen the stability of the power-opposition system disturbed; and society left suffering under the totality of political polarisation
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Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft - 05 August 2022
Poland: A Case of Top-Down Polarization
Since the elections of 2015, Poland has joined the ranks of countries experiencing democratic backsliding. It was a process driven from the top down by a segment of the political class that donned the cloak of radical populist anti-establishmentarianism to gain popular support, win an election, and rewrite the constitutional rules of the game to its own benefit
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The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science - December 20, 2018

PORTUGAL - Hate and extremism in politics

Portugal’s third political force among prominent ‘hate’ organisations
Portugal’s far-right party Chega! (ID) is expected to enter the European Parliament next year with a projected 13.2% of national votes, but a recent report highlighted the party’s rhetoric fuelled by anti-LGBTQ+, anti-immigration, anti-women and pro-conspiracy discourse.
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EURACTIV - Jun 27, 2023
'They say they’re not racist': How far-right extremism seeped into Portugal’s mainstream politics
Chega, Portugal's third largest party, brought toxic racist and anti-migrant narratives to the country's mainstream politics - yet it strongly denies being far-right, preferring to be considered a populist party.
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euronews - 21/08/2023

ROMANIA - Hate speech and discrimination

Romania: Anti-racism commission, concerned about hate speech, hate crimes and discrimination against Roma and LGBT persons
The Council of Europe’s European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) notes some progress in the last five years, but expresses concern about a number of issues, notably the widespread problem of racist and intolerant hate speech, the inadequate response of the criminal justice system to hate crimes, and discrimination against Roma and LGBT persons.
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CoE - 5 JUNE 2019
The Law of the Jungle. The Online Hate-speech against the Roma in Romania
Our findings suggest that the factors influencing Romanians’ hostility against the Roma are: (1) the general distrust in the Romanian administrations, (2) the feeling of threat, and (3) the in-group favoritism.
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Victims & Offenders, An International Journal of Evidence-based Research, Policy, and Practice - 15 Mar 2021

SLOVAKIA - Growing extremism

Online Extremism in Slovakia
This report provides fresh insight into the types of discourses, actors, platforms and strategies found in the Slovak online extremist sphere.
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ISD - 2021
Extremism grows in Slovakia
he police have recorded manifestations of intolerance in connection with the denial of the Holocaust, pointing to allegedly problematic coexistence with the Roma minority, and glorification of the wartime Slovak state.
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EURACTIV - 20 set 2022

SLOVENIA - Hate crime framework

Slovenia gives harsher sentences for hate crimes
The amendment to article 49 of the criminal code, which provides general rules on sentencing, says that if a crime is committed against a victim due to the victim’s personal circumstances, this will be considered an aggravating circumstance in the sentencing.
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EURACTIV - 30 gen 2023
National frameworks to address hate crime in Slovenia
This page provides information on the national frameworks to address hate crime in Slovenia.
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OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)
Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Department

SPAIN - Polarisation

Spain is one of Europe’s most polarized countries. Here’s why that shouldn't hold back it's potential
In recent surveys, Spain scores as one of the most polarized countries in Europe. The political debate is riddled with cultural conflict, incendiary language proliferates, and candidates on the left and right openly question each other’s right to govern.
Polarisation in Spain: more divided by ideology and identity than by public policies
Affective and ideological polarisation in Spain has been growing in recent years: political parties are increasingly far away in their ideological and territorial positions, and the feelings of one party’s voters towards the rest are among the most negative worldwide
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Esade - 15 OCT, 2020

SWEDEN - Free speech and hate speech

Sweden: racist and xenophobic hate speech on the rise despite considerable preventive efforts
The number of incidents of racist and xenophobic hate speech has been rising over recent years, in particular in the context of large-scale arrivals of migrants and refugees and in spite of serious efforts by the Swedish authorities to prevent such hate speech. The main target groups are migrants, Muslims, Black persons and Roma. Antisemitic hatred remains a problem, and the clearance rate of hate crimes remains low.
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EQUINET - 2019
ANALYSIS: How Sweden's strong free speech laws explain Quran controversy
Understanding why burning the Quran isn't illegal in Sweden means looking at the country's long-held commitment to freedom of expression, writes civil law professor Mårten Schultz in this analysis, first published by The Conversation.
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The local - 17 Aug 2023