Why in the United States do not prohibit Nazi symbols

In America, allowed characters and statements for which in many countries can be put behind bars. In particular, a US citizen will not be held liable for showing a swastika or a Nazi salute (both are prohibited, for example, in Germany); for denying the Holocaust (this is prohibited in 28 EU countries); for the publication of images of the Prophet Mohammed (this is against the law in many Islamic countries). The presence of Nazi flags at a far-right rally in Charlottesville is also absolutely legal.

The US Constitution allows an insult to any feelings

The American Constitution does not prohibit xenophobic statements. The first amendment to the constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech, protects such statements, along with any other. “Hate speech”, that is, offensive statements against any groups (African Americans, Jews, Baptists, socialists, housewives, white middle-aged men and so on), is not punishable by law. The law punishes “provocative statements” - words addressed to a specific person and capable of provoking a fight or clash. This type of utterance (they are called fighting words) is not limited to statements aimed at inciting hatred. Moreover, the US Supreme Court ruled in 1992 that an attempt to isolate a category within “provocative statements” (for example, racist statements or insults on religious grounds) would violate the constitution.

There have been attempts to prohibit incitement of hatred, but so far have failed.

In the past six months alone, two bills were immediately considered in the US Senate aimed at restricting anti-Semitic statements. The first one, which suggested introducing civil liability for hate speech (on various grounds, although anti-Semitism was put into the title of the document), has not yet been put to a vote in the House of Representatives. The second proposes to prohibit the boycott of Israel - it was introduced in July 2017 of the year, it was supported by more than 250 American lawmakers from both chambers, but human rights organizations criticized the document. Voting on it also has not been.

“Hate speech” can be regulated by internal rules of companies and organizations.

There are many organizations that struggle with hate speech and often try to defend such cases in the courts. One of them is the Anti-Defamation League. The stated goal of this organization is opposition, including in the courts, to "anti-Semitism and all forms of intolerance." In addition, the requirements to refrain from abusive and xenophobic statements are contained in the rules for using many public Internet services. So, the deprivation of the neo-Nazi site The daily stormer hosting company GoDaddy explained not by violating US laws, but by inconsistency with the rules for using their services (although Vox notes that there are no clear instructions in this regard in the rules, and in the past GoDaddy did not react to the offensive publication of the publication).

It is worth remembering that the laws of the United States and other countries are different, so you should be careful with Nazi symbols abroad. Recently in Germany арестовали American for Nazi symbols and slogans.

The number of xenophobic groups acting in the USA in the 2016 year, it remained at a historical level, having increased from 892 in 2015 to 917 last year, according to the last SPLC calculation. These are only 100 organizations smaller than 1 018 in 2011, which was a record high in the last 30 years.

Recall 12 August the car hit a crowd of demonstrators in Charlottesville, Virginia, during a march of far-right activists. As a result, the 32-year-old woman was killed and another 19 man was injured. Also near Charlottesville, a police helicopter crashed, patrolling the march of the far right, which escalated into clashes with their opponents and riots.