Speech / S5
Praising a banned organisation
The person prints and hands out a pamphlet praising an organisation the state has banned as terrorist or extremist, saying its cause is just. The pamphlet urges no specific act, and the person has no contact with the group.
What we score
What can the state do to the person because of the pamphlet?
Default assumptions: Unless a vignette says otherwise, the person is a 30-year-old citizen of sound mind with no criminal record, acting alone, on their own behalf and not for profit, in an ordinary residential area. Where subnational units (states, provinces, cantons, Länder) make their own law, each unit is scored and the result is weighted by population. 'The state' includes police, prosecutors, courts, regulators, tax authorities and anyone acting on their orders, including platforms obeying takedown orders.
Score anchors
Both the law score and the practice score use these anchors. Half points are used when a country sits between two of them.
| Score | What it means for this vignette |
|---|---|
| 10 | Nothing. Advocacy short of incitement to imminent lawless action is protected. |
| 8 | Material may be seized; no penalty. |
| 3 | Administrative penalty. |
| 2 | Criminal offence (support for or glorification of a proscribed group): fine or under 1 year. |
| 1 | Criminal offence: 1 to 5 years. |
| 0 | Over 5 years. |
Evidence used: Proscription, glorification-of-terrorism and extremism laws; arrests for expressions of support for banned groups.
How each country scores
| Country | Law | Practice | Process | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 10 | 9.5 | 0 | 9.7 | Praising a designated group without urging imminent lawless action is protected (Brandenburg). The material-support statute, 18 U.S.C. 2339B, covers only advocacy coordinated with or directed by a foreign terrorist organisation, not independent advocacy (Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, 2010). A citizen with no contact with the group cannot be charged. Since 2025 the federal government has focused more on pro-terrorist speech, which in practice means scrutiny and possible FBI attention rather than charges. |
| Netherlands | 9 | 9 | 0 | 9.0 | Dutch law currently has no offence of glorifying terrorism or praising a banned organisation. Incitement (arts. 131-132 Sr) requires urging a criminal act, and art. 140 reaches only participation in or continuing a banned organisation. The government sent a bill to the Tweede Kamer in June 2026 (Kamerstuk 36971) criminalising glorification (max 2 years) and public support for banned terrorist organisations; as of October 2026 it is still at the committee stage. A 9 rather than 10 reflects that the incitement provisions are broad and that the bill is pending. |
| New Zealand | 5 | 9 | 0 | 7.4 | The Terrorism Suppression Act 2002 has no glorification offence: s13 (14 years) requires participating in a group to enhance its ability to carry out terrorist acts, and other offences cover financing, recruitment and material support. A pamphlet is caught only if the Classification Office deems it objectionable; s3(3)(d) weighs whether it 'promotes or encourages criminal acts or acts of terrorism', and knowingly distributing an objectionable publication carries up to 14 years (s124). Praise of a cause that urges no act is unlikely to be classified objectionable, and no prosecutions of this kind were found; the realistic outcome is seizure or a takedown notice (s119C) if classified. |
| Ireland | 2 | 7 | 0 | 5.0 | Offences Against the State Act 1939 s10 makes it an offence to print or distribute an 'incriminating document', defined in s2 to include a document 'purporting or appearing to aid or abet' an unlawful organisation (e.g. the IRA), max 6 months; possession is a further offence under s12 (3 months) and gardaí can demand the copies. Membership (s21) and public provocation to terrorism (Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005) need more than praise. Public expressions of support for the IRA are common in Irish politics and songs and are not prosecuted; no enforcement data on s10 were found, so df rests on the law plus that practice. |
| Mexico | 2 | 7 | −0.5 | 4.5 | Mexico has no list of proscribed organisations and no glorification-of-terrorism offence (CPF arts. 139-139 Quinquies cover acts, threats and financing). Federal Penal Code art. 208 punishes publicly making 'apología' of a crime with 10-180 days of community service, and state codes have similar offences. In 2025 Jalisco prosecutors opened three case files for apología against the band Los Alegres del Barranco for praising CJNG leader 'El Mencho' at concerts. A pamphlet praising a cartel or armed group is rarely prosecuted, but such investigations happen. |
| Denmark | 1 | 5 | −0.5 | 2.9 | Publicly and expressly approving a terrorist crime is punishable under § 136(2) with a fine or up to 3 years. 'Otherwise promoting the activity' of a terrorist group is § 114 e (up to 8 years), which courts have applied to organised propaganda run with the group (the Roj TV case) but not to lone sympathisers with no contact. A pamphlet saying the cause is just, with no approval of specific attacks, sits at the edge of § 136(2); police investigate such material, but I found no conviction for praise of a cause alone. |
| Czechia | 0.5 | 2 | −0.5 | 0.9 | Several offences apply. § 404 (public sympathy for a movement suppressing human rights) carries 6 months to 3 years. § 403(1) (supporting or propagating such a movement) carries 1 to 5 years, rising to 3 to 10 years when committed via print. § 312e(1) (publicly approving a terrorist crime or praising its perpetrators) carries 1 to 5 years, rising to 3 to 12 years via print. In practice, people who publicly approved Russia's aggression were charged under §§ 365/405 and mostly received suspended sentences, community service or fines. |
| Germany | 1.5 | 2 | −1 | 0.8 | Supporting the activity of an association banned by the state is a crime under § 20 VereinsG (up to 1 year or a fine). Since 2002, § 129a(5) StGB covers only recruiting members or supporters for a terrorist group, not sympathy, but recruiting carries 6 months to 5 years, and a pamphlet urging support can be charged that way. Pro-Hamas and pro-PKK expressions are prosecuted often: LG Berlin I has twice fined people for the slogan 'From the river to the sea' as a Hamas symbol (§ 86a StGB), while LG Mannheim held it was not punishable. |
| Switzerland | 1 | 1.5 | −0.5 | 0.8 | For groups banned under Art. 74 Intelligence Service Act (IS, Al-Qaeda), organising propaganda or 'in any other way' promoting their activities carries up to 5 years. Hamas, banned by a separate act from 15 May 2025, is deemed a terrorist organisation under Art. 260ter, where support carries up to 10 years. The Federal Criminal Court gave an IS propagandist 7 months in prison plus a 21-month suspended term in 2023; the Federal Prosecutor investigates such cases with searches and detention. |
| Singapore | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.6 | Internal Security Act s8 allows detention without trial for 2 years, renewable indefinitely, or a restriction order, for anyone the Minister judges prejudicial to security. ISD routinely uses it against people who spread propaganda for banned groups: an 18-year-old was detained from 2022 to 2025 for being willing to help with ISIS online propaganda, and in 2025-26 eight people received detention or restriction orders. A person handing out pamphlets praising ISIS or a similar group should expect an ISA order rather than a trial. |
| United Kingdom | 0 | 1.5 | −2 | 0.0 | Terrorism Act 2000 s12(1A) makes it an offence to express an opinion or belief supportive of a proscribed organisation, reckless as to whether others will be encouraged to support it, with a maximum of 14 years. After Palestine Action was proscribed in July 2025, police arrested at least 3,070 people by April 2026, mostly under s13 for holding 'I support Palestine Action' signs. The High Court found the ban disproportionate in February 2026, but the Court of Appeal upheld it on 15 June 2026. A pamphlet calling a banned group's cause just would lead to arrest and likely a charge. |