Volksverhetzung

Constituent elements

Incitement of the People (Volksverhetzung) is defined by § 130 (Incitement to hatred) Section 1 of the Criminal Code:

Section 1

1. incites hatred against a national, racial, religious group or a group defined by their ethnic origins, against segments of the population or individuals because of their belonging to one of the aforementioned groups or segments of the population or calls for violent or arbitrary measures against them; or
2. assaults the human dignity of others by insulting, maliciously maligning an aforementioned group, segments of the population or individuals because of their belonging to one of the aforementioned groups or segments of the population, or defaming segments of the population, shall be liable to imprisonment from three months to five years. On 21 January 2015, changes to the former text of § 130 Sections 2 and 5, with Section 6 becoming Section 7, took effect following European parliament amendments. At present these changes are not reflected in the English translation of § 130 as updated in the original current German § 130.

Substantiation

Although freedom of speech is mentioned by Article 5 of the Basic Law (Germany's constitution), said article basically protects any non-outlawed speech. Restrictions exist, e.g. against personal insults, use of symbols of unconstitutional organizations, or Volksverhetzung. For any hate speech to be punishable as Volksverhetzung, the law requires that said speech be "qualified for disturbing public peace" either by inciting "hatred against parts of the populace" or calling for "acts of violence or despotism against them", or by attacking "the human dignity of others by reviling, maliciously making contemptible or slandering parts of the populace". "Germany places strict limits on speech and expression when it comes to right-wing extremism" or anything reminiscent of Nazism. Hate speech on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity also is banned in Germany.

Application to offences committed abroad

Offences contrary to § 130 of the Criminal Code committed abroad, whether by German nationals or foreigners, can be pursued as a domestic crime when they so act as if they had been committed within the country, affecting the public peace in Germany and violating the human dignity of German citizens. It is sufficient, for example, that criminal content on the Internet, for example in the form of a HTML page, can be accessed from Germany. Hence, for example, the jurisdiction of German courts can be applied for offences of sedition (Volksverhetzungsdelikte) committed abroad. Such an example was the conviction of the Holocaust denier Ernst Zündel by the District Court of Mannheim in February 2007, who was convicted of inciting propaganda he had published from the US and Canada on the Internet.

History

Historically, the Karlsbader Beschlüsse of the German Confederation under Austria and led by Metternich included democratic ideals as well as agitation for one, unified German state as Volksverhetzung.

Similar laws in other countries

Similar laws exist around the world, some examples of which are mentioned below.

• In Austria, Verhetzung is a criminal offense with similar legal elements under section 283 of the Penal Code.
• In the UK, incitement to ethnic or racial hatred is a criminal offense under Sections 17–29 of the Public Order Act 1986.
• In Ireland, the corresponding law is the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act.
• A similar law exists in Sweden as hets mot folkgrupp ("agitation against a population group"), second section 16th chapter 8§ of the criminal code.
• The Criminal Code of Finland, in the sections 3 ("Crime against humanity") and 4 ("Aggravated crime against humanity") of chapter 11 ("War crimes and crimes against humanity"), includes a similar law, which calls the crime kiihottaminen kansanryhmää vastaan in the Finnish version and hets mot folkgrupp in the Swedish version, both meaning "incitement against ethnic groups".
• The Russian Criminal Code, in its 282nd article (titled "Incitement of Hatred or Enmity, as Well as Abasement of Human Dignity"), refers to actions aimed at inciting ethnic or racial hatred. Moreover, §2 of Article 29 of the Russian Constitution disallows and bans "propaganda or agitation" that instigates "hatred and strife" of a "social, racial, national or religious" nature, or promotes the supremacy of a social class, race, nationality, religion, or language variety.
• In Uruguay, the Penal Code, in article 149-BIS (i.e., a complement to article 149, which is on lawbreaking incitement), titled "Incitement to hatred, contempt or violence towards certain persons", condemns incitement or acts of violence and/or contempt against one or more persons on the grounds of race, skin color, religion, national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation or gender identity.
• In the U.S., there is no direct legal equivalent due to the strong protections of free speech under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. However, some U.S. laws address aspects of speech that incite violence or pose a direct threat, including: :*18 U.S.C. § 2101 (The Federal Riot Act)

:*18 U.S.C. § 373 (Solicitation to Commit a Crime of Violence)

:*Brandenburg v. Ohio (The Incitement Standard)

:*42 U.S.C. § 1985(3) (Civil Rights Conspiracy)

:*18 U.S.C. § 249 (The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act)

References

References

1. (1998). "Bundesministerium der Justiz und für Verbraucherschutz: GERMAN CRIMINAL CODE". Federal Ministry of Justice, Germany.
2. "Bundesministerium der Justiz und für Verbraucherschutz: Strafgesetzbuch". Federal Ministry of Justice, Germany.
3. (August 2023). "Reclaiming Germany: Young Right Extremists, the Return of the Nation, and the State of Politics on the Streets of East Berlin". The University of Chicago.
4. http://www.bgbl.de/xaver/bgbl/start.xav?startbk=Bundesanzeiger_BGBl&jumpTo=bgbl115s0010.pdf#bgbl%2F%2F*%5B%40attr_id%3D%27bgbl115s0010.pdf%27%5D__1438730698018 Neunundvierzigstes Gesetz zur Änderung des Strafgesetzbuches – Umsetzung europäischer Vorgaben zum Sexualstrafrecht. vom 21.01.2015 (in German), p. 11.
5. Sauerbrey, Anna. (23 August 2017). "How Germany Deals With Neo-Nazis". [[The New York Times]].
6. "Volksverhetzung". [[Strafgesetzbuch]].
7. [http://www.hrr-strafrecht.de/hrr/1/00/1-184-00.php3 BGH 1 StR 184/00 – Urteil vom 12. Dezember 2000 Landgericht Mannheim (BGH 1 StR 184/00 – Judgment of 12 December 2000 District Court of Mannheim, in German]
8. "Criminal Code of Austria (1996) (excerpts related to hate crimes) (English)".
9. "[https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1986/64/part/III/2024-04-01?view=plain Public Order Act 1986, Part III: Racial Hatred]", [[legislation.gov.uk]], [[The National Archives]], 1 April 2024, 1986 c. 64 (ss. 17–29), retrieved 2 November 2025
10. (1989). "Prohibition of Incitement To Hatred Act".
11. (11 June 2015). "The Swedish Criminal Code".
12. "The Criminal Code of Finland (39/1889, amendments up to 927/2012 included)". [[United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime]].
13. "The Criminal Code Of The Russian Federation No. 63-Fz Of June 13, 1996". [[World Intellectual Property Organization]].
14. "Chapter 2. Rights and Freedoms of Man And Citizen {{!}} The Constitution of the Russian Federation".
15. (29 July 2003). "Código Penal".
16. {{USC. 18. 2101
17. {{USC. 18. 373
18. {{Ussc. (1969)
19. {{USCSub. 42. 1985. 3
20. {{USC. 18. 249
21. (30 May 2023). "Civil Rights Division {{!}} The Matthew Shepard And James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act Of 2009".
22. (4 September 2025). "Hate Crimes".