Hate Speech is on the Rise in Poland

Last week, the Polish Senate passed a law that would make it a criminal offense to claim that Poland was complicit in Nazi crimes. The Israeli government strongly opposed this measure, as do most people who care about honest academic discourse. Nevertheless, the measure was passed and now awaits the signature of the president to become law. When I caught up with my guest today, Monika Mazur-Rafał, Poland's lower house had recently passed the measure, and as Monika explains the public debate and discourse about it was heavily colored by invocations of ethnic nationalism and hate speech. Monika is the director of Humanity in Action-Poland, which is an organization that seeks to promote pluralism and cosmopolitan values. As she explains, the use of hate speech around this particular public debate is just one manifestation of a trend that has increased sharply in recent years.

In fact a public survey, which Monika describes in detail, finds that Polish people's exposure to hate speech has…