Is a religious group a 'race' or isn't it? Is someone 'racist' if they publicly state their dislike of a religious group? An Australian tribunal has answered this question by ruling that Muslim is not a race, and as such, a person who vilifies them in public, an act which is currently illegal in Australia, would not have broken the law.
In 2016 Sonia Kruger 'called for an end to migration from Islamic countries' saying that she wanted people to feel safe when going out to celebrate Australia day. Sam Ekermawi, a Muslim, filed a complaint to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal claiming the comments were racial vilification.
The tribunal was unable to conclude Muslims living in Australia "are a 'race' by reason of a common ethnic or ethno-religious origin" and dismissed the application. This is an important milestone in the legal and cultural development of the ocean-bound nation which is still attempting to balance the melting pot of cultures and people who have migrated to the country from all over the world. This ruling may be a key threshold for defining what the word 'race' actually means in the legal and social and cultural context and how laws will be interpreted in the future.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Saturday February 16 2019, @05:22PM (1 child)
It's not just an Australian thing, most western countries have laws that in essence are there to do the same thing. Most of them appear to focus on various form of hate-speech targeted towards various minorities. Then we have all the normal "offend people"-type laws as various form of slander. Basically we have laws that tell us to love and like everyone or STFU! Just waiting for thought crimes to become a mainstream reality.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 18 2019, @02:08PM
Free speech is dead