Rabat Plan of Action on the prohibition of advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence (2012)

Parmar, Sejal, Elbahtimy, Mona and Wiener, Michael 2026. Rabat Plan of Action on the prohibition of advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence (2012). Wiener, Michael, Salama, Ibrahim and Nicolmann, Britta, eds. Faith in Human Rights Treaties, San Jose, Costa Rica: University for Peace, pp. 419-461.

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Abstract

Balancing the promotion of freedom of expression with the protection from incitement to hatred or violence has always posed challenges for policymakers and regulators. In response, between 2008 and 2012, international experts drafted the Rabat Plan of Action to provide guidance on addressing advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, while protecting fundamental freedoms. The Rabat Plan recognizes concerns about both the non-prosecution of perpetrators who have crossed the incitement threshold, and the persecution of minorities under the guise of vague domestic incitement laws. The Rabat Plan identifies legal and policy approaches to address incitement that meet international human rights standards. Its impact is demonstrated by how it has been used by key actors, including references in four judgments of the European Court of Human Rights as well as in a separate opinion by two judges of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. National courts, national human rights institutions, and audio-visual media regulatory authorities have also relied on the six-part “threshold test” of the Rabat Plan which requires an assessment to be made of the severity of the incitement based on the context, speaker, intent, content, extent and likelihood of harm. At the global level, more than 400 United Nations documents have referred to the Rabat Plan, including 70 resolutions adopted by the General Assembly or Human Rights Council. United Nations treaty bodies have also referenced the Rabat threshold test, notably the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in its general recommendation on combating racist hate speech, as well as the Human Rights Committee in its General Comment on the right of peaceful assembly. With regard to online content moderation, Meta’s Oversight Board has applied the Rabat threshold test in more than a dozen decisions, which may have a significant impact for over 3 billion monthly active users of Meta’s platforms globally, but also upon wider debates about and the understanding of the limits of freedom of expression online.

Item Type:	Book Section
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Cardiff Law & Politics Schools > Law
Subjects:	J Political Science > JX International law
Publisher:	University for Peace
ISBN:	978-9930-542-76-7
Related URLs:	Publisher
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	20 May 2026
Last Modified:	21 May 2026 11:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/187135

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