[The Economist] Brazil has the world’s strictest laws against racist speech

Sub Statement: Interesting article on the ramping up of racist language charges in Brazil, which has apparently increased tenfold in the past few years. The laws are strong enough to detain tourists and have some weighty consequences — they note a recently overturned conviction for a comedian that sentenced him to years in a high security prison.

The Economist’s position is that these laws are not worth it as they don’t address the root causes of racial inequality while undermining freedom of speech, though advocates claim they can at least raise awareness.

Generally, I think it’s interesting to see how other democracies handle FOS outside of assuming the US First Amendment is the global consensus.

Also learning that Brazilian police kill ***nine times as many*** people as American police, adjusted for population size ??! Holy shit.