Abstract
Several anti-immigration politicians in Europe have been prosecuted for hate speech; some of these trials were highly mediatized. To what extent, and how, does hate speech prosecution of anti-immigration politicians affect voting for their party? We address this question by an experiment (N = 372) using manipulated versions of a television news story about a politician of the Dutch Party Forum for Democracy (FvD). We go beyond prior studies by disentangling the mechanisms driving the electoral ramifications of hate speech prosecution, assessing the moderating role of multiculturalist attitudes separately and in combination with six mediators (anti-establishment attitudes, issue salience immigration, perceived party’s effectiveness and legitimacy, support for free speech, and perceived party visibility). Among voters who are positive toward multiculturalism, exposure to a news story about prosecution boosts support for free speech and perceived visibility and support for the FvD. Both aspects are positively related to voting for FvD. This improves our understanding of the mechanisms of hate speech prosecution, informing public debates of how to react to controversial speech by politicians.
Highlights
Today, in multiple European societies anti-immigration parties1 are thriving
We examine how news regarding hate speech prosecution affects levels of electoral support
We design an experiment in which participants are exposed to a news story about hate speech prosecution of Theo Hiddema, an MP of the Dutch FvD
Summary
In multiple European societies anti-immigration parties are thriving. Generally speaking, these types of parties have performed well during elections (Stockemer 2017). The popularity of these parties has sparked controversy due to the rhetoric that is often used by their representatives and leaders, in which immigrants and other ethnic, and/or religious minorities have been targeted Following their discourse, several anti-immigration party leaders in Europe have been accused of inciting racial hatred, and legal actions against these politicians have been initiated by country authorities (Van Donselaar 1995; Vrielink 2010). Several anti-immigration party leaders in Europe have been accused of inciting racial hatred, and legal actions against these politicians have been initiated by country authorities (Van Donselaar 1995; Vrielink 2010) In several cases, these trials have culminated in the conviction of the prosecuted party leader for hate speech (Fennema 2000). High-profile cases include Geert Wilders (leader of the Dutch PVV), Jean-Marie Le Pen (former leader of the French RN) and Gunther Deckert and Udo Voigt (both former leaders of the German NPD)
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