From “lèse-majesté” to “lèse-minorities”
“In the past, the crime of lèse-majesté protected the sovereign by criminalizing any criticism or insult directed at him, in the name of order and the sacred respect for authority. Today, certain laws against hate speech, while legitimate in their intent to protect minorities, risk creating a form of ‘lèse-minorities’: a gradual criminalization of opinions or beliefs that, without inciting violence, deviate from dominant norms or offend the sensibilities of identifiable groups.
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