UN racism expert urges Australia not to water down hate speech law

Country's conservative government plans to amend Racial Discrimination Act, which prohibits offending someone on the basis of race, colour or ethnicity

Kenyan rights researcher Mutuma Ruteere o the UN urged Australia not to water down hate-speech prohibitions as bigots and extremists become more vocal (Rod McGuirk/AP)

A United Nations expert on racism on Monday urged Australia not to water down hate-speech prohibitions, as bigots and extremists become more vocal.

Mutuma Ruteere, UN special rapporteur on racism, joined the debate surrounding Australia's Racial Discrimination Act at the end of a weeklong fact-finding mission.

The conservative government had planned to amend Section 18 C of the Act, which prohibits offending someone on the basis of race, colour or ethnicity.

But the government shelved those plans at the insistence of Muslim leaders in the interests of forging closer community cooperation against extremists.

But several conservative lawmakers argue that law unreasonably restricts freedom of speech and want the 21-year-old section scrapped.

Ruteere, a Kenyan rights researcher, said the section “presents an interesting and useful balance” between freedom of speech and protecting minorities.

“Section 18 C sets the tone of an open, inclusive and multicultural Australia, which respects and values the diversity of its peoples and protects indigenous and migrants against bigots and extremists who have become more vocal in Australia and other parts of the world,” Ruteere told reporters.

Removing this section would “open the door to racist and xenophobic hate-speech which has been quite limited thanks to this provision,” he added.

Several influential anti-Muslim and anti-establishment lawmakers were elected to the federal parliament of the Christian-majority country at national elections in June.

AP