By XINHUAMore by this AuthorAddis Ababa,The Ethiopian House of Peoples Representative (HoPR), the lower house of the Ethiopian parliament, on Thursday ratified a new law that criminalised hate speech and disinformation. The newly approved regulation described hate speech as a speech that targets inflicting hate, discrimination or attack against individuals or groups based on their nationality, ethnic and religious affiliation, sex or disabilities. CONSTITUTIONAccording to the draft bill that was presented to the HoPR for ratification, the move to criminalise hate speech and disinformation was in line with the Ethiopian constitution. Following the ratification of the new law, anyone found guilty of disseminating hate speech will be sentenced up to two years of imprisonment or not more than 100,000 Ethiopian birr (3,300 US dollars). The new law also stated that if disseminated hate speech leads to an attack on individuals or groups, the offender shall be sentenced from one to five years of imprisonment.

Source: Ethiopian News February 14, 2020 13:52 UTC