IN FOCUS Hate Speech in Iceland

IN FOCUS Hate Speech in Iceland

As noted by the United Nations, in common language, “hate speech” refers to “offensive discourse targeting a group or an individual based on inherent characteristics (such as race, religion, or gender) and that may threaten social peace.”

When an offensive effigy of Icelandic journalist, athlete, and influencer Edda Falak surfaced at a recent parade in the Westman Islands, it reignited a conversation about misogyny and racism in Iceland. Taking place against the background of a public discourse that seems to be deteriorating, the incident was only one of a series of high-profile cases that inspired the Icelandic government to establish a working group to fight against hate speech.

Working group established

For a long time, Icelandic society was characterised by relative homogeneity, but as it has slowly morphed to become more diverse, there has been no shortage of incidents that shed light on the various prejudices nurtured by the citizenry.

In late June of last year, a working group appointed by the Prime Minister convened for the first time to review indications of “growing hate speech within Icelandic society” and to develop coordinated measures against it (i.e. with regard to race, colour, national origin, sexuality, and gender identity).

In the fall of 2021, the National Queer Organisation of Iceland (Samtökin ’78) saw a rise in reports of harassment of LGBTQ+ people in Iceland, including harassment of children who were perceived as LGBTQ+, who were followed and barked at by groups of harassers.

Other incidents also pointed to growing intolerance of the LGBTQ+ community, including repeated vandalism of a rainbow flag painted outside Grafarvogskirkja church in the city of Reykjavík.

In regards to racism, there are two incidents in particular that most immediately inspired the establishment of the group, and which have most saliently contributed to a feeling that hate speech is on the rise in Iceland.

Lenya Rún Taha Karim

Following the Icelandic parliamentary elections on September 25, 2021, results indicated that Leyna Rún Taha Karim – born in Iceland in 1999 to Kurdish immigrants– had become the youngest parliamentarian in history.

But the victory was short lived.

After a recount in the Northwest constituency on September 26, five seats were reshuffled, and Lenya Rún and four other candidates lost their seats. As a deputy MP, however, Lenya took a seat in Parliament later that year.

Following Lenya’s promotion, the Pirate Party felt compelled to publicly condemn some of the racist remarks that she had been made to suffer. According to a press release in early January, the young politician had faced “relentless propaganda and racism for the mere fact of participating in politics.”

Lenya went on to publish some of the hateful messages that she had received on social media, alongside a selection of comments made in public discussions online following her election. Her story isn’t unique.

Photography by Golli

Words by Erik Pomrenke

Vigdís Häsler

Later that year, Vigdís Häsler, Director of the Icelandic Farmers’ Association, attended the annual Agricultural Convention (Búnaðarþing) held at Hotel Natura in Reykjavík.

During a photo-op involving a few staff members of the association, who were holding Vigdís in a plank position, the group attempted to convince minister Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson to join them. The minister, having repeatedly refused, reportedly referred to Vigdís as “the black one” (although he has refused to repeat the comment to the media).

In the wake of the incident, Vigdís published a post observing that she “never believed” she would have to sit down and author such a statement: “I have never let skin colour, race, gender, or anything else define me. I have always believed that my work and actions spoke for themselves, but now I feel compelled to speak out about what happened.”

“I know what I heard,” Vigdís stated, “I know what was said. I refuse to be responsible for the words the minister used in my regard; hidden prejudice is a huge social evil and pervades all levels of society. It reduces the work of individuals to colour or gender.”

A meeting with the Prime Minister

Following the outcry that these two incidents inspired, Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir sat down with Lenya and Vigdís in late April to discuss possible ways to deal with racism and xenophobia.

“It was an important conversation, given how difficult the last few weeks have been,” Lenya Rún stated after the meeting. “There have been incidents that have caused concern but that have also served to raise awareness. I’m not happy about these incidents, but I’m happy that they’ve inspired an honest discussion, both in the government and within society.”

The Prime Minister announced the establishment of the abovementioned work group three weeks later.

Working group drafts proposal

On January 3, the working group published its proposal on the government’s online consultation portal (Samráðsgátt), a forum that

invites commentary from interested parties and the citizenry alike.

The document outlines a total of 21 proposals, among them, the allocation of ISK 30 million [$211,000; €194,000] within the 20242026 budget in support of anti-hate speech projects; the allocation of ISK 15 million [$105,000; €97,000] to raise awareness of hate speech in Icelandic society; an online course on the subject of hate speech to be geared towards political representatives (at the state and municipal level), school authorities, teachers, police officers, judges, and others in positions of authority; and increased education on the subject geared towards children.

More troubling remarks

Whether these measures prove effective remains to be seen, with a handful of more recent incidents pointing to their timeliness.

As noted in an article on Kjarninn in early June, a majority of Polish immigrants in Iceland (or 56%) have experienced hate speech in Iceland – and a large part of that group has experienced it repeatedly.

Last summer, for example, Sylwia Zajkowska was selected to portray Iceland’s Lady of the Mountain (fjallkonan, the female personification of Iceland) during the 2022 Icelandic National Day. Sylwia delivered a speech on Austurvellir Square – and recited a poem by Brynja Hjálmarsdóttir – stating that it was “a great honour” to have been offered the role.

Eiríkur Rögnvaldsson – professor emeritus of Icelandic grammar at the University of Iceland – later revealed that he had received an anonymous email following his discussion of Sylwia’s selection to the media. The author of the email maintained that Icelanders simply had a “low tolerance towards people who speak Icelandic with a foreign accent,” adding that they disapproved of this “large influx of foreigners.”

“Which is why people hate that a Polish person was chosen –and it didn’t help that she didn’t know Icelandic.”

“It’s not admirable to send an anonymous email, as it indicates that the author in question knows that they probably don’t have a particularly strong argument, if they’re too afraid to put their name to what they write,” Eiríkur told Mbl.is.

Photography by Golli Words by Erik Pomrenke