Nowadays, hate speech is incensed with the advent of technologies and easy access to social media. The speedy development of the language online shows the influence it has leading to the rise in hate crimes and human dignity decline rate. With time, hate speech has taken different forms, all of which had consequences for society. This article studies the relationship between hate speech and hate crimes, giving attention to the cases and incidents of history and Malaysia.

Historical contexts

German wartime crimes are used to illustrate the connection between hate speech and drastic war crimes. Hitler’s government played a crucial role in the development of hatred for the Jews among the German people. The Jews were dehumanised in the public through the propaganda and through discriminatory regulations that resulted in their public humiliation and eventually led to the mass murder of nearly six million of them in the Holocaust. The subsequent events remain a somber reminder of what can be done when hate speech instances are ignored as the possible outcomes can be disastrous.

The genocide of Rwanda also shows how speech based on hate can accelerate widespread violence and ethnic cleansing. Before the genocide, radical people used radio and newspapers to bombard the masses with dangerous propaganda about the Tutsi. The pre-genocide destructive speeches against the Tutsi ethnic community were not only dehumanising but also set the pace for a series of actions that eventually led to the catastrophic massacre where thousands of innocent Tutsi civilians lost their lives. The darkest page of hate speech was written during the Rwandan genocide of 1994, which unveils how it deeply affects societal cohesiveness and stability.

Cases in Malaysia

Rohingya refugees

One of the recent issues that Malaysia will be facing or overcoming is the Rohingya refugee crisis which has increased the tensions and introduced the growth of hate speech amongst the society. This governmental policy of pushing away the Rohingya boats back to sea comes with a corresponding steep rise in, xenophobic speech and violence that is aimed at the Rohingya.

Moreover, the Malaysian government intends to fuel the malicious narratives against the Rohingya refugees, which have reenergised unease, especially in the result of the escape of 528 detainees from the immigration detention centre. The spreading of false news accusing Rohingyas of being irregular migrants shaping the views of bureaucrats and media to be anti-Rohingya refugees has created an environment where general citizens behave as haters.

Recalling the experiences as the article previously mentioned, we can see the destructive and irreversible nature of hate speech when combined with state power. It is indeed concerning to note the similarity of the connection between state policies and the plight of Rohingya refugees, especially when these policies are used as tools to target and harm the vulnerable groups.

The recent episode where Hamzah Zainudin, the former Minister of Home Affairs, made offensive and discriminatory comments such as ‘refugees who prefer to leave Malaysia must do so if they want to have freedom’ would have intensified the existing hate speech against Rohingya refugees propagated on social media platforms.

As a result, the strict policies and continuous categorisation of refugees in Malaysia as illegal aliens will aggravate the issue while wrong words from authority figures spread in the public, constructing a cycle of hate speech which is harmful towards not only the targeted groups but also the perpetrators themselves. It deepened the hatred and escalated the conflict with each other and the society among them.

LGBT+ community

The situation that the LGBT+ group is facing in Malaysia is mentioned as the worst. In early January 2019, a transgender woman was murdered brutally in Klang, which had already preceded in less than two months another two killings of this kind in Malaysia. Such brutality, the range of which includes being thrown from moving cars to fatal beatings, is an illustrative of the unsafe reality to which people from the LGBT+ community are exposed. The seriousness of these offences has been undermined by the authorities who have chosen not to classify the crimes as hate crimes, which again has exposed the systematic oppression that the LGBT+ community face in Malaysia.

Multiple instances of violence and animosity directed at the LGBT+ community illustrate how hate speech perpetuates ongoing discrimination, creating a cycle of hostility and prejudice. Some politicians contribute to a culture of intolerance and discrimination by using public platforms to spread misunderstandings about transgender people.

One instance involves a proposed amendment to the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction Act , Act 355) by Ahmad Marzuk Shaary, deputy minister for religious affairs in the Prime Minister’s Department. This amendment seeks to grant state Sharia courts the authority to impose stricter penalties for same-sex conduct, surpassing the current maximum punishment allowed under federal law. Additionally, Marzuk suggested criminalising actions such as gender transition and sharing social media content deemed indecent, including non-normative gender expression images.

In another incident, members of the queer community noted the absence of response from Malaysia’s political parties after a Halloween party was raided by religious authorities. This silence underscores the marginalised position of the LGBT+ community within Malaysian society.

Tolerant, understanding and inclusive society

As the cases mentioned above, the government behaves toward LGBT+ groups more than just the propagation of prejudices and stereotypes, these public figures that engage in such misconduct also put the minds of others to do the same thing and are encouraged to do so. The result is people normalising what is being said or the violence that the LGBT+ community is facing every day.

The common thing between hate speech and hate crimes such as genocide is undeniable, as history has always confirmed that. To prevent the recurrence of this event we must take measures simultaneously that make our society reject hate speeches and also build an environment where our society has tolerance, understanding and inclusion among people.

References:

1. Viewpoint Absolutism and Hate Speech, Eric Heinze, Modern Law Review.
2. Counter Counteracting Hate Speech as a W acting Hate Speech as a Way of Preventing Genocidal Violence, Wibke Timmermann, National University of Ireland via Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal.
3. Asylum and Migration Glossary: irregular migrant, European Migration Network (EMN).
4. Malaysia: End hateful rhetoric against Rohingya refugees, ARTICLE 19, via ReliefWeb.
5. Malaysia: An inclusive policy measure is needed to end hate speech and discrimination, Nalini Elumalai, ARTICLE 19.
6. “The Deceased Can’t Speak for Herself”: Violence Against LGBT People in Malaysia, Neela Ghoshal, Human Rights Watch.
7. Malaysian LGBTQ groups dismayed as politicians stay silent on Halloween party raid in lead-up to election, Hadi Azmi, South China Morning Post.
8. Malaysia: Government Steps Up Attacks on LGBT People, Human Rights Watch.