USCIRF Releases New Report about Protecting Religious Freedom Online

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released the following factsheet on safeguarding the freedom of religion or belief on social media platforms:

Protecting Religious Freedom Online Factsheet – This report outlines the international human rights standards relevant to the regulation of speech on social media platforms—focusing specifically on the impact to the freedom of religion or belief. Governments’ and social media companies’ insufficient responses to online hate can result in grave human rights violations. At the same time, removing or censoring protected speech online can also impede human rights. States have a direct duty to protect human rights online, which requires balancing the removal of unlawful content with allowing protected speech. This factsheet considers the impact of social media companies’ current content moderation policies on religious freedom, and explores the opportunities for those companies to incorporate international human rights standards. To further promote human rights online, this factsheet reiterates USCIRF’s recommendations for how the U.S. government can play an important role in ensuring the protection of religious freedom digitally.

In October 2020, USCIRF held a hearing on Combatting Online Hate Speech and Disinformation Targeting Religious Communities. USCIRF’s 2021 Annual Report highlights the prevalence and impact of hate speech targeting religious communities, including in India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Nicaragua, and Turkey.

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].

From 1992-1995, Bosnia endured a brutal ethno-religious war, as Bosnian Serbs ethnically cleansed their Muslim neighbors in the east of the country. The 1995 Dayton Accords, brokered by the United States, ended the conflict, and created a unique power-sharing arrangement between predominantly Orthodox Christian Serbs, Muslim Bosniaks, and Catholic Croats. This fragile arrangement now appears to be in crisis and USCIRF remains very concerned about the prospect of renewed violence and religious freedom violations.

USCIRF Senior Policy Analyst Jason Morton joins us today to provide some background on Bosnia and discuss the religious freedom situation in more detail.

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USCIRF Releases New Factsheet on Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released the following new report on Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) and its particular targeting of individuals who seek to exercise their freedom of religion or belief:

Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court Factsheet - While originally created to clear a backlog of terrorism cases, the SCC now regularly tries members of religious minority groups and individuals who dissent peacefully from the Saudi government’s singular interpretation of Hanbali Sunni Islam. These individuals have been denied access to legal representation, held in prolonged detention, reportedly tortured into confessing, and given excessive sentences including the death penalty. The factsheet details several such cases, including that of Waleed Abu el-Khair, the lawyer of USCIRF religious prisoner of conscience Raif Badawi. The factsheet recommends that the Biden administration determine whether the court and its officials are subject to sanctions or visa bans as a result of these egregious religious freedom violations, and continue to advocate publicly for freedom of religion or belief in Saudi Arabia.

USCIRF recently discussed reforms to select polices impacting religious freedom in Saudi Arabia on an episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast. In its 2021 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended the State Department re-designate Saudi Arabia as a “Country of Particular Concern,” or CPC, for systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations. In November 2021, the State Department re-designated Saudi Arabia as a CPC but issued a national security waiver exempting the country from otherwise legislatively mandated action as a result of the designation.

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].