French antisemitism bill could threaten free speech: UN experts

A group of UN human rights experts on Tuesday warned that draft legislation in France aimed at tackling what it calls “new forms of antisemitism” could undermine freedom of expression and other fundamental rights.

The bill introduced to parliament in November 2024 by Caroline Yadan proposes criminal penalties not only for denying the existence of a state, but also for comparing Israel to the Nazi regime.

The legislation, due for its first reading on Thursday, has secured broad backing across the political spectrum, including support from the far right.

But according to a statement by the panel of five experts, it would “dangerously expand the already vague and overbroad offence of ‘glorification of terrorism’ under French law. Its undue restriction of freedom of expression and opinion would also chill legitimate public debate and human rights advocacy, including on Palestine and Israel.”

The bill would criminalize incitement to terrorism “even implicitly” as well as statements considered to “minimize” or “excessively trivialize” terrorist acts or those responsible for them.

It would also make it an offense to publicly call for the destruction of a state recognized by France, or to express views deemed to “minimize” or “excessively trivialize” Holocaust crimes “in any form.”

The experts said such measures risk suppressing lawful speech.

“Criminal law should not suppress different views about current or past events, however inaccurate, unpopular, or shocking, unless such expression is intended to incite violence and is objectively likely to do so,” they said.

They also warned against restricting debate on issues such as self-determination and statehood.

“By distorting the meaning of antisemitism and associating it with a broad range of legitimate political expression, the Bill risks trivializing genuine instances of antisemitic hatred, hampering their identification, and fuelling perceptions of instrumentalization,” they added.

While stressing that “Combating antisemitism, like all forms of racial, religious or other discrimination, is an important objective,” the experts argued the bill conflates antisemitism with criticism of Israel.

“Criticism of Israel and Zionism does not constitute antisemitism,” they said.

According to the UN, the special rapporteurs, independent experts and working groups are part of what is known as the special procedures of the UN Human Rights Council.