On the constitutional prohibition of inciting hatred and hostility

Background. The article examines the constitutional and legal nature of the ban on inciting hatred and hostility on discriminatory grounds. The authors conduct a comparative analysis of constitutional legal norms and norms of criminal, administrative and anti-extremist legislation in terms of the legal regulation of this ban. Materials and methods. To achieve their goals, the authors used formal legal and comparative legal methods. Results. The ambiguity of the scientific understanding of the categories “inciting hatred”, “inciting enmity”, “inciting discord” is revealed. At the same time, law enforcement practice does not pay such close attention to separating these categories. At the same time, a purely practical issue in qualifying an action as extremist is not the distinction between “hatred” and “hostility”, but the distinction between “hostility” and “threat of violence”. Conclusions. The norms of special legislation and the practice of its application should not go beyond the constitutional and legal prohibitions of freedom of thought and speech, and establish other criteria for extremist offenses.