EU Drops Hate Speech Crime Expansion Plan
The European Commission has withdrawn its proposal to add hate speech and hate crime to the EU list of criminal offenses after it stalled in the council.
Updated on Nov. 10, 2026 in Internet
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The European Commission announced on Nov. 4 that it is withdrawing its proposal to add hate speech and hate crime to the EU list of criminal offenses. The proposal, unveiled in December 2021, stalled in the council.
Why it matters
Adding the categories would have required unanimous approval by member states with the consent of the European Parliament, a threshold the initiative did not reach. The decision leaves existing national laws and the 2008 council framework on racist and xenophobic hate speech in place.
EU rules since 2008 have required member states to criminalize certain racist and xenophobic hate speech under a council framework. The commission has not indicated a timeline for a replacement measure.
The players
European Commission
The executive body of the European Union responsible for proposing EU legislation, which announced the withdrawal of the hate speech proposal.
Alliance Defending Freedom International
A legal advocacy organization that said on Nov. 9 that incitement to violence is already a criminal offense.
The details
The commission said the proposal would have extended the EU crimes list to cover hate speech and hate crime. Germany does not recognize hate crime as a stand-alone offense, while France and Italy criminalize hate speech and related conduct under their own laws.
Timeline
December 2021: The initiative to extend the EU crimes list was unveiled.
Nov. 4: The commission announced it was withdrawing the proposal.
Big Picture
The withdrawal leaves the 2008 Council Framework Decision on racist and xenophobic hate speech as the main EU-level criminal standard. The Digital Services Act, fully in force since 2024, governs platform obligations separately.
The decision means hate speech and hate crime will not be added as a unified EU-wide criminal category for now, so enforcement remains governed by national laws. Online platforms continue to face obligations under the Digital Services Act regarding illegal content.
The takeaway
The withdrawal shows that expanding EU criminal law requires unanimous member-state agreement, which remains difficult for sensitive speech categories. Readers should expect hate speech rules to continue varying by country.
Further reading
For related coverage of online speech rules, see Internet.
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