Government critics could be jailed under new Hate Speech Law…

The new Hate Speech Law could see critics of government policy on social media prosecuted and jailed - if their criticism is deemed to cause emotional or psychological harm to government officials or supporters. This is the warning from Ismail Joosub, the Legal Officer of Constitutional Programmes at The FW De Klerk Foundation, and a candidate MP for ActionSA. “The threat of imprisonment that the Act brings with it for expressing what it deems harmful speech will certainly deter individuals from speaking out about wrongdoing, undermining efforts to combat corruption and protect democratic values.” He says numerous rights in the Constitution - including the right to freedom of speech - are being “significantly violated” by the new law. It is now going to take a direct Constitutional Court challenge to get “this unconstitutional law to be struck down”.