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Public Order Act 1986, Section 22 is up to date with all changes known to be in force on or before 09 December 2024. There are changes that may be brought into force at a future date. Changes that have been made appear in the content and are referenced with annotations.
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(1)If a programme involving threatening, abusive or insulting visual images or sounds is [F1included in a programme service], each of the persons mentioned in subsection (2) is guilty of an offence if—
(a)he intends thereby to stir up racial hatred, or
(b)having regard to all the circumstances racial hatred is likely to be stirred up thereby.
(2)The persons are—
(a)the person providing the . . . F2 programme service,
(b)any person by whom the programme is produced or directed, and
(c)any person by whom offending words or behaviour are used.
(3)If the person providing the service, or a person by whom the programme was produced or directed, is not shown to have intended to stir up racial hatred, it is a defence for him to prove that—
(a)he did not know and had no reason to suspect that the programme would involve the offending material, and
(b)having regard to the circumstances in which the programme was [F3included in a programme service], it was not reasonably practicable for him to secure the removal of the material.
(4)It is a defence for a person by whom the programme was produced or directed who is not shown to have intended to stir up racial hatred to prove that he did not know and had no reason to suspect—
(a)that the programme would be [F3included in a programme service], or
(b)that the circumstances in which the programme would be . . . F4so included would be such that racial hatred would be likely to be stirred up.
(5)It is a defence for a person by whom offending words or behaviour were used and who is not shown to have intended to stir up racial hatred to prove that he did not know and had no reason to suspect—
(a)that a programme involving the use of the offending material would be [F3included in a programme service], or
(b)that the circumstances in which a programme involving the use of the offending material would be . . . F4 so included, or in which a programme . . . F4 so included would involve the use of the offending material, would be such that racial hatred would be likely to be stirred up.
(6)A person who is not shown to have intended to stir up racial hatred is not guilty of an offence under this section if he did not know, and had no reason to suspect, that the offending material was threatening, abusive or insulting.
(7),(8). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F5
Textual Amendments
F1Words substituted by Broadcasting Act 1990 (c. 42, SIF 96), s. 164(3)(a)
F2Words repealed by Broadcating Act 1990 (c. 42, SIF 96), ss. 164(3)(b)(i), 203(3), Sch. 21
F3Words substituted by Broadcasting Act 1990 (c. 42, SIF 96), s. 164(3)(a)
F4Words repealed by Broadcasting Act 1990 (c. 42, SIF 96), ss. 164(3)(b)(ii), 203(3), Sch. 21
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