Bill now needs approval from upper house before becoming law
Activists in Italy have hailed a vote in the lower house of parliament to pass a bill that would make violence against LGBT people and disabled people, as well as misogyny, a hate crime.
The bill, which passed successfully despite months of protests from far-right and Catholic groups, now needs approval from the upper house, where it is backed by the ruling coalition parties, before becoming law.
Continue reading...Ephraim Mirvis joins 48-hour boycott after grime musician Wiley’s antisemitic tirade
The UK’s chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, has accused Facebook and Twitter of complicity in antisemitism through inaction as he urged both platforms to do more to tackle hate speech after an antisemitic tirade last week from the grime musician Wiley.
In a letter to the technology companies’ chief executives, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Jack Dorsey of Twitter, Mirvis said “the woeful lack of responsible leadership … cannot be allowed to stand.
Continue reading...Debate on long-awaited bill that would punish discrimination and hate crimes towards LGBT people opens on Monday
For 15 years, Marco and his boyfriend had lived together fairly peacefully in a town outside Rome. Then, in early June, a neighbour started harassing them.
“It began quite lightly, with him being provocative whenever we met in the street,” the 38-year-old said. “Then he came to our home and forced his way in, calling us ‘dirty faggots’. My boyfriend managed to get rid of him but he returned with a baton and threw himself against the door, repeating the same insults and threatening to set us alight when we were asleep.”
Continue reading...Two-year audit praises some decisions but criticises lack of action over Trump posts
Facebook’s decisions over the last nine months have resulted in “serious setbacks for civil rights,” according to the damning conclusion of a two-year-long audit commissioned by the social network to review its impact on the world.
The final report, which focuses primarily on decisions made since June 2019, praises Facebook’s move to ban American advertisers from using its tools for housing and employment discrimination, and the company’s belated decision to ban explicit support for white nationalism.
Continue reading...Home Office commissioner Sara Khan reveals surge in online hate material since death of George Floyd
The Black Lives Matter movement has been aggressively exploited by the UK’s far right, which has recruited and radicalised people on the back of its success, the government’s chief adviser on extremism has warned.
Sara Khan, Britain’s first counter-extremism commissioner, said far-right activists had used the death of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter (BLM) to propagate white supremacist narratives online.
Continue reading...Figures released on eve of International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia show 36% leap in offences
Homophobic attacks and insults in France rose by 36% last year, according to figures released by the interior ministry, prompting the government to talk of an “anchoring” of homophobia in the country.
The figures released on Saturday show a steady increase in offences and come on the eve of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, and 30 years after the withdrawal of homosexuality from the list of mental illnesses by the World Health Organization.
Continue reading...Police have received at least eight reports since 13 December of attacks possibly propelled by anti-Jewish sentiment
New York City is increasing its police presence in some Brooklyn neighborhoods with large Jewish populations after possibly antisemitic attacks during the Hanukkah holiday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said after the latest episode happened Friday.
Besides making officers more visible in Borough Park, Crown Heights and Williamsburg, police will boost visits to houses of worship and some other places, the mayor tweeted.
Continue reading...Magdalena Adamowicz draws sense of purpose from murder of husband Paweł, a critic of nationalism
Newly elected MEP Magdalena Adamowicz is on a mission to craft new Europe-wide laws on hate speech, and she has more moral authority to make the demands than most.
Her husband, Paweł Adamowicz, for more than two decades the mayor of the northern Polish city of Gdańsk, was stabbed while on stage at a charity event in January and died soon after. He had been a vocal critic of Poland’s nationalist government and an advocate of tolerance in the city, which had long been a stronghold of the liberal opposition.
Continue reading...Lesbian couple assaulted by group of young males blame rise of rightwing populism for growth in hate crime
The two women left needing hospital treatment after they were attacked on a bus in a homophobic assault have blamed a rise in rightwing populism for growing hate crime and called on people to stand up for each other.
Melania Geymonat, 28, and her girlfriend, Chris, 29, defiantly announced they would not be intimidated into hiding their sexuality, days after they said they were attacked by several young men when they refused to kiss upon demand.
Continue reading...Labour MP also calls for political candidates to be banned from discussing raping politicians
The Labour MP Jess Phillips has called for social media companies to stop hate preachers from profiting, calling for political candidates to be banned from discussing raping politicians.
YouTube stripped the Ukip candidate Carl Benjamin’s account from its ability to earn money on Friday, after he joked about raping Phillips.
Continue reading...Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein says worshipper Lori Kaye died protecting him from a 19-year-old man who opened fire at the Chabad of Poway synagogue in San Diego. Goldstein lost one of his index fingers when he held up his hands in defence as the gunman fired. In an emotional statement, he recalled how Kaye threw herself between the gunman and him. Two others were wounded in the attack
Continue reading...A defiant Yisroel Goldstein, who was shot at point blank range in California attack, says ‘we are being mown down like animals’
The rabbi wounded in the shooting at his synagogue in California has said it was a miracle he was not dead and that “senseless hate” killings based on religion must stop.
“We are being mown down like animals,” said Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, lost both his index fingers when he held up his hands in defense as the gunman shot him.
Continue reading...France reports 74% rise in offences against Jews and Germany records 60% surge in violent attacks
Antisemitism is rising sharply across Europe, experts have said, as France reported a 74% increase in the number of offences against Jews last year and Germany said the number of violent antisemitic attacks had surged by more than 60%.
Related: Hungary tells UK Jewish group to 'mind its own business' over antisemitism
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