Trial and error: hate speech prosecution and its (unintended) effects on democratic support

Due to its controversial nature, hate speech prosecution of anti-immigration politicians is likely to affect citizens’ democratic support. Using a web experiment in which participants are exposed to a manipulated television news story about hate speech prosecution, we test these potential effects in the Dutch context. We demonstrate that effects on democratic support are driven by (dis)agreement with ideas expressed by the prosecuted politician in his alleged hate speech rather than by identification with his party. While a decision to not prosecute a politician does not seem to affect democratic support, a decision to prosecute a politician for hate speech decreases democratic support among citizens with anti-immigration attitudes, and increases democratic support among citizens with pro-immigration attitudes. Decisions to prosecute politicians for hate speech thus have important effects not just on supporters of the politician’s party, but also on other groups in society.