What is "incitement" in a legal context?
Asked by: Dr. Charlene Bayer | Last update: February 4, 2026Score: 4.3/5 (7 votes)
In a legal context, incitement is the act of encouraging, provoking, or persuading someone to commit a crime, often considered a crime itself, even if the intended illegal act never happens, focusing on the instigator's intent to cause unlawful action, especially when speech leads to imminent lawless action, like riots. The U.S. Supreme Court's Brandenburg v. Ohio case set a high bar, requiring speech to intend and be likely to produce imminent lawless action, distinguishing it from protected advocacy.
What qualifies as incitement?
Simple Definition of incitement
Incitement, in criminal law, is the act of urging, provoking, or persuading another person to commit a crime. It is considered an inchoate offense, meaning the person who incites can be held criminally responsible even if the intended crime is not ultimately carried out.
How to prove incitement?
The crime of inciting a riot requires a prosecutor to prove the following elements: The defendant committed an act or engaged in conduct that encouraged a riot or urged others to commit acts of force or violence or to burn or destroy property.
What is evidence of incitement?
Liability for incitement requires proof of communication, since one cannot urge another to a course of action unless the other is conscious of the defendant's command, request, plea or shouts of encouragement.
What is the legal test for incitement?
The Court used a two-pronged test to evaluate speech acts: (1) speech can be prohibited if it is "directed at inciting or producing imminent lawless action" and (2) it is "likely to incite or produce such action." The criminal syndicalism act made illegal the advocacy and teaching of doctrines while ignoring whether or ...
What Does Incitement Mean In The Context Of Free Speech? - Your Civil Rights Guide
What are the requirements for incitement?
Must Violence or Hatred Actually Result
As incitement is an inchoate offence, there is no requirement that hatred (or violence or discrimination) actually results from it. However, there must be the possibility of demonstrating a plausible nexus between the offending words and some undesirable consequence.
Can you be charged with incitement?
In criminal law, incitement is the encouragement of another person to commit a crime. Depending on the jurisdiction, some or all types of incitement may be illegal. Where illegal, it is known as an inchoate offense, where harm is intended but may or may not have actually occurred.
Can you incite without intent?
To cross the legal threshold from protected to unprotected speech, the Supreme Court held the speaker must intend to incite or produce imminent lawless action, and the speaker's words or conduct must be likely to produce such action. These requirements are known as the Brandenburg test.
What are the potential consequences of incitement?
Potential Penalties: Varies by state, can include fines or imprisonment. Jurisdiction: Federal and State laws apply.
What is the process of incitement?
Process of incitement to induce subordinates to act in a desired manner by fulfilling their needs and driving them towards goals. Overseeing and guiding employees to ensure tasks are completed correctly. Influencing and directing groups towards achieving objectives.
What speech is not protected?
The Court generally identifies these categories as obscenity, defamation, fraud, incitement, fighting words, true threats, speech integral to criminal conduct, and child pornography. The contours of these categories have changed over time, with many having been significantly narrowed by the Court.
What is Section 44 of the Serious crime Act?
44Intentionally encouraging or assisting an offence
(b)he intends to encourage or assist its commission. (2)But he is not to be taken to have intended to encourage or assist the commission of an offence merely because such encouragement or assistance was a foreseeable consequence of his act.
What is the Brandenburg statute?
The Brandenburg test remains the controlling standard for evaluating the limits of speech advocating for violence or unlawful conduct. It ensures that the government cannot punish speech based solely on its content or perceived offensiveness unless it poses an immediate, concrete threat of illegal activity.
What is a word for incitement?
noun. something that incites or provokes; a means of arousing or stirring to action. synonyms: incitation, provocation.
Is provoking someone illegal?
Willfully: You intended on doing whatever was necessary to break the law; AND, Used Offensive Words/Likely To Provoke A Violent Reaction: You said something reasonably likely to produce an immediate violent reaction;[9] AND, Public Place Or Building: When you used the words you were in a public place or building.
Does the First Amendment protect incitement?
In general, the First Amendment does not protect individuals from engaging in violence, true threats, the incitement of violence and harassment.
Who decides what is considered incitement?
Incitement. Incitement — speech that is both “directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action” — is unprotected by the First Amendment. The standard comes from the Supreme Court's 1969 decision in Brandenburg v.
What is unlawful incitement?
Speech that is intended and likely to provoke imminent unlawful action (“incitement”). Statements where the speaker means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals (“true threats”).
What is the incitement of hatred act?
It says that it is an offence to communicate threatening, abusive or insulting material that is intended, or likely to, “stir up” hatred against a group of people because of their race, colour, nationality, religion, ethnic or national origins, membership of the Traveller community or sexual orientation.
Is incitement a felony?
Inciting a Riot is a misdemeanor penal code violation punishable by: A fine of up to $1000 and/or. Imprisonment in county jail for up to one year.
Is the f word protected speech?
Yes, the "f-word" (profanity/obscenity) is generally protected speech under the First Amendment, as the Supreme Court has ruled that offensive or vulgar words alone aren't enough to restrict speech; however, it loses protection if it crosses into unprotected categories like "fighting words" (direct personal insults likely to provoke violence), true threats, or is part of obscenity, though courts have narrowed these exceptions significantly, as seen in the Brandi Levy case where school-related online swearing was protected.
What type of speech is the most protected?
The First Amendment provides the greatest degree of protection to political speech, disallows discrimination against speech based on viewpoint, and generally prohibits the passage of vague or broad laws that impact speech.
What isn't protected under the First Amendment?
The categories of unprotected speech include obscenity, child pornography, defamatory speech, false advertising, true threats, and fighting words.
Can you sue someone for inciting violence?
You may also pursue a claim under the Bane Civil Rights Act, California Civil Code section 52.1. This act forbids anyone from interfering by violence or threat of violence with your state or federal constitutional or statutory rights.
Is hate speech a crime in the USA?
While many countries have legal restrictions on certain types of hateful speech, other countries with strong legal protections similar to the U.S. First Amendment typically do not. In the United States, hateful language and offensive speech are protected from government interference under the First Amendment.