Hate crime in cyberspace: the challenges of substantive criminal law

Hate crime evokes hate speech, but to assimilate one with the other would not do justice to the diversity of behaviours encompassed by the expression 'hate crime'. A first overview of the notion is necessary in order to highlight the key features of offences involving hatred. A particular emphasis will be given to the specificity of cyberspace hate crimes both in the UK and in France. This comparison will enable us to tackle the main issue cyber-hate raises: that of the legitimacy and practicality of criminalizing behaviours related to hatred on the Internet. The debates may not be specific to hate crimes but they are acute for at an international level, crime notably limits a freedom of expression which does not have the same meaning both legally and culturally. The Convention on cybercrime will also be looked at, especially that its critics argue that it did not go far enough into protecting victims of hate crimes at an international level. © 2009 Taylor & Francis.