"Hate speech" e negazionismo tra restrizioni alla libertà d'espressione e abuso del diritto

The prohibition of speeches that constitutes incitement to hostility, discrimination or violence, such as the criminalization of those who deny or minimize the extent of international crimes, leads to restriction of the right to freedom of expression. The European Court of Human Rights has often pronounced on the subject of "hate speech" and Holocaust denial, giving rise to a complex case law. Sometimes the Strasbourg organs have examined the cases under Art. 10 on freedom of expression, considering in detail the facts and the presence of any grounds of justification. Other times they have instead applied art. 17 on the abuse of rights, based on the assumption that those who attack rights and freedoms recognized by the European Convention on Human Rights cannot rely on the rights it guarantees. The impression is of a fluctuating and unpredictable case law.