By Stephen Johnson/DailyMail

A sweeping law could see Australians jailed for three years for posting what’s deemed ‘offensive’ on Facebook in an attempt to protect minority groups.

Queensland‘s Labor government has introduced a bill that would dramatically increase the maximum prison sentence for racist, anti-gay, anti-trans or seriously bigoted statements.

Making such statements already carry a maximum six-month jail term, but that would be increased to three years under the new bill.

Inflammatory Facebook posts would be a criminal offence with the legislation covering ‘any form of communication to the public, including by speaking, writing, printing, displaying notices, broadcasting, telecasting, screening or playing of tapes or other recorded material, or by electronic means’.

Posting a Nazi symbol on social media, or carrying it around publicly, will also prompt jail time. 

Neo-Nazis who displayed swastikas face hefty prison sentences under the proposed Criminal Code (Serious Vilification and Hate Crimes) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023.

It covers ‘any conduct that is observable by the public, including actions, gestures and the wearing or display of clothing, signs, flags, emblems or insignia’.

Displaying a swastika is already illegal in Victoria and NSW, with Western Australia soon following and South Australia also considering the issue.

In NSW, it attracts a year long jail term or a $100,000 fine.

The laws in Victoria and NSW have an exception when it comes to people displaying swastikas for religious reasons – as it is a common symbol in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths. 

While the proposed law has a similar exemption in Queensland, there are fears overzealous police could arrest and charge someone regardless. 

Queensland Council for Civil Liberties president Michael Cope said the proposed laws targeting Nazi swastikas could see Hindus criminally charged for displaying their religious symbol.

Swastikas are a symbol of the sun in Hinduism and are commonly displayed during the Diwali festival of lights.

‘There’s a serious prospect that people of different faiths who use the swastika and similar symbols, as an ordinary part of their religious belief, I think are going to be subject to prosecution under this legislation,’ Mr Cope told a parliamentary hearing on Monday.

‘Given the prevalence of the swastika in so many different cultural and religious contexts, inevitably, someone is going to get charged.’ 

In a submission to the parliamentary Legal Affairs and Safety Committee which is examining the legislation, the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties said Hindus and comedians both faced being criminally charged.

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