New government draft law targets hate speech and promotes peaceful coexistence

TDT | Manama

Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

A government draft law on promoting coexistence and tolerance, and on criminalising hate speech, has been referred to the Council of Representatives under Decree No. 67 of 2025, with a request that it be reviewed alongside the decree by a joint committee bringing together the Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee and the Services Committee. The text, sent with a letter from the Deputy Prime Minister, His Excellency Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, is submitted under Articles 35(a) and 81 of the Constitution.

It draws on the Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the law regulating the press, printing and publishing, as amended in 2025, and cites Bahrain’s accession to the two UN covenants on civil and political rights and on economic, social and cultural rights.

The bill defines coexistence as peaceful shared living among individuals and groups with respect for human and cultural diversity.

Right

Tolerance is defined as social cohesion and equal enjoyment of rights, freedoms and the right to express views without discrimination, violence or hatred.

It then defines infringement of coexistence as conduct that blocks peaceful shared living or denies or weakens diversity in a way that threatens national unity or the social fabric.

Infringement of tolerance is defined as conduct that breaks social cohesion or denies others equal rights or freedoms, leading to discrimination, incitement to hatred or calls for violence. Hate speech is described as any behaviour, through any form of expression, that stirs discord, sectarian feeling, violence or discrimination between individuals or groups.

Expression

The bill lists forms of expression to include acts, speech, writing, drawing, signs, images, singing, acting, gestures and similar means, and covers use through print, broadcast, online networks, websites, information technology tools, social media and other written, audio or visual channels.

Article 4 creates a new offence. Anyone who commits an act that harms coexistence or tolerance, or who engages in hate speech, through any form of expression and by using any medium, faces a jail term of up to two years and a fine of up to 10,000 dinars, or one of those penalties.

Attempts carry the same punishment as a completed offence, and any further crime that results from the act is treated as an aggravating factor.

Liability

Article 5 extends liability to legal persons.

Where an offence is carried out in the name of, for the account of, or for the benefit of a company or organisation, and this is linked to an act, omission, approval, concealment or gross negligence by a board member, manager or authorised supervisor, the legal person is subject to a fine of between BD5,000 and BD20,000, without removing the criminal liability of the individual involved.

The bill also states that freedom of opinion and expression cannot be invoked as a reason to commit, or to incite, harm to coexistence or tolerance, or to engage in hate speech in breach of the law.

Implementation is assigned to the Prime Minister and ministers within their remits. The law would take effect on the day after publication in the Official Gazette.

In its explanatory memorandum, the Legislation and Legal Opinion Commission said it received the draft on 10 November 2025 following Cabinet Decision No. 2816-02, taken on 3 November 2025, approving referral of the bill to the legislative authority.

Aim

The memorandum says the aim is to build a single legal scheme to back mutual respect, social cohesion and shared living, and to penalise acts that undermine those aims.

It places a central role on the King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence and Tolerance, established by Royal Order No. 15 of 2018, to work with concerned bodies, co-ordinate national efforts, suggest education and awareness programmes, spread equality and dialogue, and propose further rules in this field.