A/HRC/55/47 care is needed in its application since spiteful motives are easily confused with conscientious ones.7 6. Notwithstanding the psychological and physiological harms or sense of offence that can result from hate speech, the fundamental threat to the dignity of targeted groups does not solely arise from hateful expressions but also from the social reality that they are drawn from, i.e. the potentially widespread societal identity-based contempt towards the target community. 8 It has been argued that we must “commit to interrupting violence, not just observing it […] our hearts must be broken open with compassion”.9 But how is this to be achieved? While both the regulation of speech and the promotion of counter-speech may go some way towards addressing various forms of hate speech, a broader transformative toolkit is necessary to address matters at the systemic level. 7. State authorities should be alert to instances of expressions of hatred and any resulting offence and/or harm, irrespective of whether they amount to human rights violations or whether they are required to respond to them as human rights obligations. Such incidents may be indicative of fissures in society that need to be healed, of crude opportunistic uses of divisions utilized by politicians or of the need for better actions with respect to the integration of newly arrived migrants; Such instances of hatred are significant and require calibrated measures and reactions, even if they are not mandatory under international human rights law. After all, human rights are a floor not a ceiling. The positive role of States in this regard is discussed in section V.B below. 8. What remains the case, however, is that it may be that hatred hurts and harms the sensibilities of scores of people deeply and profoundly yet does not justify criminal sanctions against the source of that hatred in accordance with international human rights law. This is because the measure and gauge of human rights obligations are neither hurt nor harm, and the experience of victims is a consideration but is not determinative. This does not imply that the real hurt and harm are being minimized or overlooked, but that they are “best countered through societal steps”,10 which are concretely delineated in human rights norms, as outlined below. III. Hatred on the basis of religion or belief A. Characteristics 9. Hateful attitudes on the basis of religion or belief present particular characteristics, as well as overlaps and intersections, with hateful attitudes on the basis of other protected characteristics. Those attitudes, as well as how they are manifested, produced or reproduced, can vary significantly in different contexts. The subject matter examined in the present report is therefore necessarily limited.11 Nonetheless, some key aspects are outlined below. 10. Expressions and manifestations of hatred on the basis of religion or belief often draw on long historical traditions of division, conflict or oppression framed in terms of religion or belief. Historical narratives, myths, stereotypes and images, drawn (purportedly) from religious concepts, traditions and texts, are amalgamated with notions of racial purity and national unity, accusations of espionage for foreign powers, moral bankruptcy, infiltration in order to destroy the dominant community, non-allegiance to the nation-State and deviance or non-conformity with the hegemonic set of societal values.12 7 8 9 10 11 12 GE.23-25950 See https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-moral-limits-of-the-criminal-law-9780195052152, pp.96 and 44. See https://www.academia.edu/7942751/Dignity_Harm_and_Hate_Speech, pp. 701–728. See https://posthillpress.com/book/religicide-confronting-the-roots-of-anti-religious-violence, p. xviii. See https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-freedom-to-be-racist-9780199739691, p. 146. Since other reports have focused on the role of media (for example, A/HRC/46/57), it will not be a focus of the present report. Submissions by Bahaʼi International Community; Memorial; SOVA Research Centre; and World Evangelical Alliance. 3