//Some posters are barred from Answerbank for continually posting diatribes against religious or ethnic groups, diatribes that could earn them a prosecution in the real world//
Spot on with that observation, Bainbrig.
But, as we're on the topic of "hate speech" legislation, consider how hazy these classifications are. What, for instance, constitutes a "religious group"?
Do you know anything about Scientology? That's a religion, isn't it? Or not - but if not, why not?
Am I allowed to attack its founder Lafayette Ron Hubbard as a scammer, mock his teachings and condemn the unwholesome tactics used by his followers to extract money from potential converts and to persecute whistle-blowers who have left the faith?
You wouldn't want to see criticism of Scientology, or of its founder, or of its followers to be criminalised, would you, Bainbrig?