Killing Free Speech in Austria

by John Richardson
July 7, 2020 at 5:00 am

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16126/austria-free-speech

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) ignores that there may be a context and a reason for "portraying newcomers as a threat to security". It does not consider the proliferation of Islamic terrorism in Europe or research showing that terrorists have migrated into Europe disguised as asylum seekers, who have gone on to perpetrate deadly terrorist attacks.
"According to the study, six of the 16 mosque associations examined (37.5%) pursue 'a policy that actively impedes integration into society and to some extent exhibits fundamentalist tendencies.' Half of the 16 mosques examined 'preach a dichotomous worldview, the pivotal tenet of which is the division of the world into Muslims on one side, and everyone else on the other.' Six of the mosques were found to practice 'explicit denigration of Western society'."
None of this context exists for ECRI, which appears to operate in a vacuum, unencumbered by real world facts.
Instead, ECRI commends Austria for having "several measures in place... which aim to combat hate speech by developing a counter-narrative."

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) recently published its sixth monitoring report on Austria.

ECRI, which describes itself as "independent", is the human rights monitoring body of the Council of Europe -- not to be confused with the European Union. The Council of Europe is composed of 47 member states, including all of the 27 European Union member states.

ECRI is an unelected body with members designated by their governments (one for each member state) who are supposed to have "in-depth knowledge in the field of combating intolerance.... and recognised expertise in dealing with racism, xenophobia, antisemitism and intolerance". It was founded in 1994 by the heads of state of the Council of Europe with the mandate, among other things, to "review member States' legislation, policies and other measures to combat racism, xenophobia, antisemitism and intolerance, and their effectiveness".

Thanks in large part to the efforts of ECRI and the Council of Europe, Europe now has a huge web of hate speech laws and policies. Gatestone has previously reported on ECRI's monitoring of Germany and of Switzerland.

In its sixth monitoring report on Austria, ECRI wrote that "progress has been made and good practices have been developed in a number of fields".

"Austria has taken several initiatives to thwart hate speech by developing a counter-narrative. The authorities have worked with civil society to improve the detection and recording of online hate and to provide support to victims of such incidents... in... 2018, the authorities concluded an agreement with social network providers to remove hate speech within 24 hours".

However, according to the ECRI, Austria must do more:

"ECRI notes with concern that Austrian public discourse has become increasingly xenophobic in recent years, and political speech has taken on highly divisive and antagonistic overtones particularly targeting Muslims and refugees. The arrival of asylum seekers in large numbers during the European migration crisis in 2015 also saw an escalation of anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiments, portraying newcomers as a threat to security, national identity or culture".

ECRI ignores that there may be a context and a reason for "portraying newcomers as a threat to security". It does not consider the proliferation of Islamic terrorism in Europe or research showing that terrorists have migrated into Europe disguised as asylum seekers, who have gone on to perpetrate deadly terrorist attacks. It also does not acknowledge that, in the words of a 2016 New York Times article about Austria:

"... the challenges of integrating the refugees have become clearer as concerns about crime, sexual mores and cultural clashes come into stark relief across Europe, highlighted by the New Year's Eve assaults on German women by Arab or North African men in Cologne".

Similar sexual assaults, by migrant men on Austrian women, but on a far lesser scale, also occurred in Salzburg and Vienna on that same night. Crime statistics for 2017 from the Austrian police showed that 39% of crime suspects were "foreigners".

Instead, the report notes:

"ECRI is concerned about the sharp rise in intolerant discourse against Muslims. Two different studies conducted in 2017 suggest that 28% of the Austrian population would not want Muslim neighbours and 65% of them were strongly opposed to further migration from Muslim states. Such high levels of Islamophobia are confirmed by a FRA-EU survey, in which 32% of Muslim respondents reported having experienced harassment due to their ethnic or immigrant background in the last year. Certain politicians and media persist in portraying Muslims in a negative light. Claims about a presumed lack of integration of Muslims in Austria and about their alleged opposition to 'fundamental Austrian values' leading to violent extremism remain common in public discourse and contribute to a climate of mistrust and fear of Muslims. Research indicates that this trend has further been exacerbated by legislative initiatives, often in connection with security concerns, that affect Muslims, such as the Islam Act of 2015 and the Anti-Face Veiling Act of 2017".

Again, ECRI does not mention that Austria has experienced serious problems both with integration and with radical Islamism. As previously reported by Gatestone in 2017, the Austrian Integration Fund (ÖIF), a department of the foreign ministry published a study, "The role of the mosque in the integration process" in which government representatives surveyed 16 mosques in Vienna:

"According to the study, six of the 16 mosque associations examined (37.5%) pursue 'a policy that actively impedes integration into society and to some extent exhibits fundamentalist tendencies.' Half of the 16 mosques examined 'preach a dichotomous worldview, the pivotal tenet of which is the division of the world into Muslims on one side, and everyone else on the other.' Six of the mosques were found to practice 'explicit denigration of Western society'."

In its 2018 annual report, Austria's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counter-Terrorism (BVT) warned:

"For Austria, the greatest threat remains... from Islamist extremism and terrorism. Although... fewer Jihad travelers (Foreign Terrorist Fighters) have returned to Austria than expected, this group of so-called 'returnees' poses a significant threat to internal security... in view of the current territorial dissolution of the so-called 'Islamic State' (IS), further security challenges consist of the possible smuggling of jihadists in the course of migration movements to Europe... into Austrian society..."

None of this context exists for ECRI, which appears to operate in a vacuum, unencumbered by real world facts. Instead, ECRI commends Austria for having "several measures in place... which aim to combat hate speech by developing a counter-narrative."

"For instance, in 2016, the National Committee for the 'No Hate Speech' campaign of the Council of Europe was set up. After launching another campaign #makelovegreatagain in 2017, it still runs various awareness-raising activities with the involvement of several actors, including state authorities and NGOs. Since July 2018, in cooperation with the public prosecutor's office, Neustart, which is the Austrian probation service, has initiated the programme 'Dialog statt Hass' (Dialog instead of Hatred), which aims at developing a constructive response to hate speech by creating a sense of wrongdoing and reflection among offenders, subsequently leading to behavioural change".

Still, even these initiatives do not suffice:

"Immediate and public condemnation of hate speech is not common. Rare examples of good practice include the call for a tolerant and diverse nation, free of ideological and racial hatred by the President of Austria in January 2017..." states the report and asks "that political leaders on all sides take a firm and public stance against the expression of racist hate speech and react to any such expression with a strong counter-hate speech message. All political parties in the country should adopt codes of conduct which prohibit the use of hate speech and call on their members and followers to abstain from using it".

Furthermore, victims of hate speech need to have more support:

"In September 2017, the counselling centre #GegenHassimNetz (Against online hate), which is financed by the Federal Chancellery, became operational... for victims and witnesses of online hate. Counselling includes strategies for effective responses to hate messages and information on available legal remedies against perpetrators or website operators. Other measures such as the counselling on the removal of hate messages from social media or other websites are also being supported. This initiative has already yielded positive results, as shown by the increasing number of reported incidents concerning online hate speech... The ICT-security portal (www.onlinesicherheit.gv.at), which is an inter-ministerial initiative, also provides an overview of effective prevention measures, reporting mechanisms as well as counselling centres on hate speech".

ECRI finally notes:

"In 2018, the Federal Minister for Constitutional Affairs, Reforms, Deregulation and Justice concluded an agreement pursuant to which Facebook will check notifications of illegal content regarding hate speech within 24 hours and will remove or lock down such content... In addition, Internet users and civil society can report racist content via the Internet- Reporting Office on the website of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism".

ECRI welcomed the information that a governmental working group of experts is being set up "to develop the legal basis for effective action against hatred on the Internet."

"On a related note, the authorities further informed ECRI that new legislation, namely the 'Federal Act on Diligence and Responsibility in the Network' was proposed in April 2019, aiming at combating online hate speech by requiring social media users and online commenters to provide their real identities to the online platforms, which would then be responsible for verifying the information... In this respect, ECRI recalls that the authorities should ensure that anyone who engages in hate speech as covered by Article 283 of the Criminal Code is duly prosecuted and punished".

In Austria, more censorship is clearly on the way.

John Richardson is a researcher based in the United States.

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Comment on this item

19 Reader Comments

Mahavir • Jun 9, 2022 at 09:57

Indian situation is also getting worse, free speech is under threat from the 'peaceful' people. See this.

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David • Jul 9, 2020 at 23:44

This letter is a general commentary on the total failure of MSM to cite the high quality research, facts and logical arguments generally espoused by at least by nearly all contributors on Gatestone such as the outstanding and courageous Judith Bergman, Prof Alan Dershowitz, Raymond Ibrahim etc.

For example during each of the years 2018 and 2019 the number of citations appearing on MSM as emanating from Gatestone were less then the fingers on two hands.

What are the reasons... is it the high cost of using these citations?

Is it the absolute refusal by MSM to use citations from conservative sites which MSM has erroneously labelled as far right?

Maybe MSM does not know the difference between conservative and far right and does not want to know.

The consequences are that the standard of knowledgeable factual debate in MSM regarding Israel, apartheid, Palestinian tyranny, Islam declining levels of Western democracy, etc. are incredibly low.

Long term political decision making based on popular sentiment which in turn is based on grossly shallow MSM coverage has become the norm.

Very obviously the quality of such political decision-making must be very poor... it is our children and grandchildren who will be the first to suffer the consequent horrific and long term damage to Western civilisation and freedoms.

It is very possible that future generations of children will justifiably say to the parents, grandparents etc who failed to see
and did not want to see the approaching apocalyptic tsunami: "thanks... for nothing"

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Andrew • Jul 8, 2020 at 06:22

I'm very interested in what the ECRI in Nigeria has to say about the amount of Christians being killed there, or at least being raped...
Oh yeah that's right, such a group like ECRI doesn't exist in Africa, or anywhere else in the Third World, can only be needed in Western Europe because so many non Europeans cause so much crime, rape and general chaos that we must keep these Europeans in line with the diversity gig.

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Nancy Swartz • Jul 7, 2020 at 21:14

ECRI needs to wake up & smell the coffee! The group MOST discriminated against in the WORLD are Christians. The group MOST discriminated against in EU/Europe are JEWS!

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Joseph Thomas • Jul 7, 2020 at 12:49

It is true, but I have problem with free speech in this country too. If you speak the truth, you would get a death threat. How do we deal with the problem here? It is always easy to find a problem overseas by ignoring our own problem here at hand.

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Bisley

Joseph Thomas • Jul 8, 2020 at 03:44

You have to accept that anything of substance that you may say is going to infuriate those with opposing opinions. They will try to intimidate you into silence by any means available, including personal threats. Most threats are meaningless since they have neither the means, nor the will to back them up. In the rare cases where threats are converted to action, the US recognizes your right to carry a firearm to defend yourself. Nothing is without consequences, but speaking the truth is necessary to protect freedom, and you should be willing (and prepared) to deal with the consequences.

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Shannon Elam • Jul 7, 2020 at 12:48

An opportunity multiple hundred's of thousands were never given. If Turkey is urgent about this than it's most likely he knows something else and really doesn't want to have on his mind.
Religious Freedom has been taken up in America more so than the previous administration that witnessed the genocide of Christian's !!! Please leave and count it a Blessing.

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Don Gaetano • Jul 7, 2020 at 12:36

Thank you Judith. Not counting the governmental actions but just considering the symptoms; You could substitute the country name (Austria) in this article with a good number of other country names across Europe and adding Canada, New Zealand, S Africa and the efforts of the Democrats here in the US as well.
BLM leaders in US are seen on film as admitting they are "trained Marxists."

That should help average citizens to say no to all this especially after the violence.
I have appreciated your articles very much along with Guy Milliere and Giulio Meotti's and others as well. Thankful for Gatestone writers.

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Henry • Jul 7, 2020 at 11:28

Slow suicide of Europe is accelerating. Interesting is that all these degenerated societies clearly see the effect of mass migration of the Islamic world; however are willfully submitting. Both, the governments and the populace. Indeed, the good life makes people weak. Now, as it is clear that western Europe is done (as well as Canada), let's focus on the remnants of the free world, i.e. United States and Australia to observe for how long they can handle the left's assault.

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Bisley • Jul 7, 2020 at 11:05

There can never be any justification for hate speech laws, or any other form of political censorship (which is their purpose and effect). Freedom requires free speech, and the public needs to be exposed to all arguments and opinions (however distasteful anyone may find them) from which to form their own opinions. Control of public speech is nothing more than an attempt to remove opposing ideas from the public discourse until most people will come to the conclusion those in charge want them to (with all alternatives having been demonized, or eliminated).

There's a right to hate, and to display it in public -- how else are people to know of alternatives to the policies forced on us by those controlling government, and attempting to control the flow of information. Freedom in Europe is being extinguished by political censorship. Unless these laws are repealed, and socialist control over the education and news industries is broken, socialism and tyranny will prevail. And, it will prevail because it has eliminated, or made unacceptable all other alternatives.

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Peter Buckley • Jul 7, 2020 at 09:45

"Two different studies conducted in 2017 suggest that 28% of the Austrian population would not want Muslim neighbours and 65% of them were strongly opposed to further migration from Muslim states."

So most Austrians would vote for a party that would stop immigration from Muslim countries (i.e. an "anti-Islam" party...i.e a "far-right" party). In other words, so-called "far-right" parties will continue to grow- in direct proportion to Muslim immigration.

I also expect non-elected bodies such as the ECRI and Council of Europe to be defunct within a decade, as the EU itself unravels after the UK's departure.

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Peter Buckley • Jul 7, 2020 at 08:58

"Two different studies conducted in 2017 suggest that 28% of the Austrian population would not want Muslim neighbours and 65% of them were strongly opposed to further migration from Muslim states."

So most Austrians would vote for a party that would stop immigratin from Muslim countries (i.e. an "anti-Islam" party...i.e a "far-right" party). In other words, so-called "far-right" parties will continue to grow- in direct proportion to Muslim immigration.

I also expect non-elected bodies such as the ECRI and Council of Europe to be defunct within a decade, as the EU itself unravels after the UK's departure.

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Nemo • Jul 7, 2020 at 08:27

Wear a mask.... keep social distance and do not say anything of which we do not approve!
The future looks bleak!

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Max Dormoy • Jul 7, 2020 at 07:54

Easy answer, leave the EU. Thank God the UK will be out soon.

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Christopher Shearwood • Jul 7, 2020 at 07:16

The evidence is all around us in every Western country. Multiculturalism is an abject failure and needs to be reversed as quickly as possible before irreparable damage is done.

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Germany Escapee • Jul 7, 2020 at 07:06

I have several close friends who are, shall we say, of various skin tones and do you know, they too are very much against the massive influx European leaders have thrust upon us. So, does that make my friends hyporites? No. They are here because they are highly intelligent experts who have every desire to be part of western society as it is and not change it.

Yet one of them faces real hatred. No, not from extreme right wingers but...the rabid far left at his university. He is unable to express the slighest whisper as he does to me of his views while on campus. If he did his career would be over. A similar scenario can be seen throughout German academia.

In terms of control, propaganda, media manipulation and banning of free speech Austria and Germany are taking a massive leap into the past.

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Klaus Zinser • Jul 7, 2020 at 05:53

The report is also available in the German Language. And a Statement from the Austrian Government.

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Eddy Barrows • Jul 7, 2020 at 05:48

George Orwell warned us and those who understand how essential free speech is to democracy will fully appreciate, that whilst attempting to control human thought may be seen to some as just a necessary tool to prevent argument or conflict it is also the perfect opportunity for political dictatorship.

Legislation which purports to prevent unpleasant online activity will very soon evolve into a means by which governments,even those who appear to be otherwise democratic,can declare any criticism of them as hate speech thereby thwarting under pain of prosecution any opposition.

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Gabor Ujvari • Jul 7, 2020 at 05:39

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance is a hypocritical mob. They demonize the host nations because people speak up against the dubious activities of some of the newcomers. Many of them masquerading as refugees, while in reality they are missionaries and potential terrorists. This is NOT racism, but an opinion based on statistics. It is NOT racism when the host nation want to protect her citizens, security, safety and culture. It is natural self preservation. Shame on The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance for shutting down free speech and destroying the Western Civilization! They are an existential threat to us!

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