Australian MP wants to make it illegal to cause religious offence to Muslims

An Australian MP has called for tougher speech laws so that it is illegal to offend Muslims because of their religion. Anne Aly, Australia’s first female Muslim MP, said that race discrimination laws should be expanded to cover insults based on religion as well. Restrictive speech laws Down Under have banned people from saying anything […]

An Australian MP has called for tougher speech laws so that it is illegal to offend Muslims because of their religion.

Anne Aly, Australia’s first female Muslim MP, said that race discrimination laws should be expanded to cover insults based on religion as well.

Restrictive speech laws Down Under have banned people from saying anything which could “offend or insult” people because of their race.

The Australian government is mounting a push to rewrite the legislation so that words must “harass or intimidate” before they become a matter for the courts.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the legislation in question – Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act – has “lost its credibility” and needs to change.

However, Aly proposes doing the opposite – keeping the lower standard for the law, and adding “religion” to the current list of “race, colour or national or ethnic origin”. (heatst.com)