Australian lawmakers have banned the performance of the Nazi salute in public and outlawed the display or sale of Nazi hate symbols such as the swastika in landmark legislation that went into effect in the country Monday. The new laws also make the act of glorifying OR praising acts of terrorism a criminal offense.

The crime of publicly performing the Nazi salute or displaying the Nazi swastika is punishable by up to 12 months in prison, according to the Reuters news agency.

Mark Dreyfus, Australia’s Attorney-General, said in a press release Monday that the laws — the first of their kind in the country — sent “a clear message: there is no place in Australia for acts and symbols that glorify the horrors of the Holocaust and terrorist acts.”

  • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
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    11 months ago

    On the internet words like terrorist, fascist, and genocide seemingly has lost all meaning. It’s just an expression of dumb emotions.

    But in a court of law these words do have defined meanings. The internet != real life.

    And yeah a law in which the intent is to reduce antisemitism by banning symbols carried by antisemitic people may result in it being illegal for you to display your black flag in public if that same flag as carried by people who promote violence against Jews.

    This might trigger some introspection in some people about why they’re in possession of symbols that are also carried by people that promote racist violence. Is there is significant difference between your black flag and a swastika in terms of how those symbols affect people?

    • metaStatic@kbin.social
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      11 months ago

      The big problem with these laws is that the people legally defining these words are including non violent acts such as protesting.

      if I say we should abolish the senate that’s not terrorism … unless you’re a senator.

      and if you know anything about the black flag you know I don’t stop at the senate.

      • BreakDecks
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        11 months ago

        Can you point out any examples of this happening in Australia?

        • metaStatic@kbin.social
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          11 months ago

          open any legislation, the first thing they do is define any words they use that diverge from common use.

          • BreakDecks
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            11 months ago

            C’mon, you’re making the claim here. If it’s as easy as opening any legislation then it shouldn’t be hard for you to provide an example.