Australia on Thursday passed anti-hate crime laws under which a Nazi salute in public, among other similar offences, will be punishable by a mandatory jail sentence.

Summary

Australia has enacted strict anti-hate crime laws, mandating jail sentences for public Nazi salutes and other hate-related offenses.

Punishments range from 12 months for lesser crimes to six years for terrorism-related hate offenses.

The legislation follows a rise in antisemitic attacks, including synagogue vandalism and a foiled bombing plot targeting Jewish Australians.

The law builds on state-level bans, with prior convictions for individuals performing Nazi salutes in public spaces, including at sporting events and courthouses.

  • John Richard@lemmy.worldEnglish
    314·
    8 hours ago

    Multiple front page Reddit articles about this as well. Look at the downvote ratio compared to discussions. Israel just pulling the strings as usual & everyone is falling for it, as they plan to take over Gaza & call you all Nazis for opposing it.

  • Th3D3k0y@lemmy.worldEnglish
    313·
    9 hours ago

    So this is Australia, but imagine we did something like this in the USA. A Nazi salute is a form of hate crime against Jewish people, would it also be illegal to use Racial Slurs?

    • Ziggurat@fedia.io
      133·
      9 hours ago

      Many countries do have hate-speech laws, and law against Nazi propaganda.

      As usual intent and context matters, but I don’t see why you should defend the right to use racial slur in a racist manier

      • John Richard@lemmy.worldEnglish
        213·
        8 hours ago

        Because it isn’t physically violent. Black Democrats are out there making racial comments about white people as well. I don’t think they should be locked up, do you?

        • barsoap@lemm.eeEnglish
          2·
          3 hours ago

          That’s generally how it works in countries with hate speech laws, yes. Civilisation doesn’t work when civility is required only of a subset of the population, no matter its shape.

          Also for the record in Germany the salute doesn’t qualify as incitement to hatred, at least not without further context, it’s plain and simply use of a symbol of an outlawed organisation, which is punishable if it is done in the furtherance of the goals and aims of that organisation. Same law applies to e.g. 1%er badges. I think there’s “gang symbols” type legislation in the US, so why the sudden pearl-clutching when the violent goons signalling each other happen to be Nazis? It’s a criminal organisation having had their official structures banned still trying to organise, that’s illegal.

  • Demdaru@lemmy.worldEnglish
    101·
    3 hours ago

    See, I am overall against any and all limits of free speech but…

    Yeah. Context matters. And in current world context, good job Australia, hope outher countries take notes.

    • Woht24@lemmy.worldEnglish
      62·
      2 hours ago

      Literal hate crimes, I’m all for. A gesture with your arm gets you 12 months? That’s too much, regardless of its origin or meaning.

      I’ll say, likely wasting my digital breath, I do not support any sort of Nazi bullshit or affiliates. But truly, outlawing gestures is a next level, knee jerk reaction to a problem they don’t know what else to do to solve.

  • CEbbinghaus@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1477·
    10 hours ago

    Fucking finally. Good shit Australia. Doing better than most. Watch Elmo throw a hissie fit. Pathetic

    • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.worldEnglish
      213·
      8 hours ago

      Agreed.

      I’m so sick of this absolutist free speech bullshit that wants to make room for terrorist ideologies to hide.

      • Dasus@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        6 hours ago

        It’s kinda weird to sort of start rolling back to where some type of conservatism is actually a good thing. I don’t want to identify as a conservative, but I definitely want to conserve institutions of justice and whatnot and not have them corrupted by right-wing crypto cucks.

      • Tja@programming.devEnglish
        17·
        7 hours ago

        There is no free speech absolutism. Dare to criticize him or make fun of him and you are banned and ostracized. It’s a Nazi enablement pure and simple.

      • WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.worldEnglish
        26·
        8 hours ago

        Don’t kid yourself. Australia is also an oligarchy where corporations get most of what they want passed within days/weeks, with little to no debate, while popular or inconsequential policies are given months or years of debate (so the murdoch/oligarch propaganda machine can distract the public and tell them how to think).

        There is no chance in hell either major party would imprison an American dictators right hand man. They’re both corporate whores at heart, with little/no virtue.

  • rottingleaf@lemmy.worldEnglish
    415·
    8 hours ago

    That’s a bit too much. That’s a country with Gallipoli battles being matter of national myth, right? And they use it the way of praising WWI Ottomans as a worthy enemy. That’d be Young Turks, that’d be the genocide of Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks in those very years.

    Jail for a salute seems a bit unbalanced.

    • OccamsRazer@lemmy.worldEnglish
      12·
      6 hours ago

      The point is to jail people you disagree with by whatever means palatable to the general public. You can’t just run around jailing people, you have to have a reason.

  • John Richard@lemmy.worldEnglish
    316·
    9 hours ago

    Soon protesting or advocating against the genocide in Gaza & speaking out against ethnic cleansing will be considered a hate crime too. Remember, this is what you wanted when you said no to free speech, regardless if it was something that offended you.