Demonstrations and vandalism | The line between hate speech and free speech

“Genocide in Palestine. Canada complicit. » Organizations called out hate speech when around fifteen metro stations were vandalized last week. But was it really hatred and anti-Semitism? There is a thin line between freedom of expression and hateful messages, experts point out.

“We can demonstrate, we can express our ideas, we can criticize Canada, Quebec, Israel or Hamas, but the step not to take is to attack identifiable groups, people », Specifies Maryse Potvin, co-holder of the France-Québec Chair on freedom of expression.

In a context of war, such as that between Israel and Hamas, freedom of expression is often undermined. Citizens fear expressing their point of view because of the climate of tension and the exacerbation of opinions. Groups sometimes also try to discredit each other’s points of view, to the point of trying to silence them, adds M.^me Potvin, professor at UQAM.

Because of the emotional issues, some people cross the line that should not be crossed. “We can disagree without attacking Jews or Muslims. We must stay at this stage where we disagree. From the moment we attack people by denigrating them, belittling them, intimidating them, terrorizing them, it becomes racism. When there is a call to attack one group, it is in a certain way a call to exterminate the other,” explains the specialist in extremism and radicalization.

In Canada, freedom of expression is governed by the Charter of Rights, to a certain extent. Publicly inciting hatred and encouraging genocide against an identifiable group is, however, punishable under the Criminal Code (sections 318 and 319). By “identifiable group” we mean “any section of the public which is differentiated from others by colour, race, religion, national or ethnic origin, age, sex, sexual orientation or mental disability or physical.”

Jonathan Mayer, lecturer at the law faculty of the University of Sherbrooke, recalls that the ruling Whatcott has partly defined what constitutes hate speech in the country. In this case which went to the Supreme Court 10 years ago, an activist distributed homophobic and hateful leaflets in mailboxes in Saskatchewan.

“But be careful, an insult can lead to other offenses listed in the Criminal Code. If I threaten to kill someone, it’s a death threat and it’s criminal,” says Mr. Mayer.

Rise in hate crimes

Projectiles fired at schools, Molotov cocktails at a synagogue, scuffles at the university… For Maryse Potvin and Jonathan Mayer, there is no doubt: there is an increase in speech and even hate crimes in Montreal, like elsewhere in the world. The figures provided by the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM) every week also confirm this. Since October 7, 73 hate crimes or events have been committed against the Jewish community and 25 against the Arab-Muslim community.

However, the two experts raise eyebrows when groups describe vandalism in the metro as a hateful act. In the hours following the event, the leader of the opposition in Montreal, Aref Salem, declared that he was concerned to “see that hateful acts linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are increasing in our metropolis”. The Advisory Center for Jewish and Israeli Relations, for its part, indicated that it had confidence in the ability of the SPVM to ensure “a public transport system free of hateful messages”.

“I would rather be inclined to say that the message conveyed [sur les affiches collées sur les édicules du métro] is part of freedom of expression. From what I understand, we do not criticize the Jews of Israel. Canada is criticized for holding a certain line in international politics,” believes Mr. Mayer.

“It’s political,” also asserts M.^me Potvin. It’s an ideological position, but it’s not hateful towards a population. »

“Even that’s what democracy is,” she adds. We can criticize States. We can criticize their decisions, provided that they are not violent towards an identifiable group. »