and from 2007 to 2017, only 4 complaints of violating the law were reported to law enforcement. Bills repealing the law had been proposed multiple times, but none were successful until 2017 when the first prosecution since 1971 was filed against a man for posting a video of him burning the Quran on Facebook, reigniting the debate over the law. Parliament voted to repeal the law, with 8 of the 9 parties in the Folketing supporting the repeal. Hate speech and racism The rules against hate speech and racism are set down in § 266b of the Danish penal code: Free speech advocate Lars Hedegaard was prosecuted under this statute for remarks made to a blogger in December 2009 criticizing Islam. He was first acquitted in the District Court in January 2011, then convicted upon appeal to High Court in May 2011, and finally acquitted by the Danish Supreme Court in April 2012 which ruled that it could not be proved that he intended for the statements to be published. Danish politician Jesper Langballe pleaded guilty and was convicted of hate speech for comments he made about rape and honour killings in Muslim families in a newspaper article in connection with Hedegaard's case. State security In February and March 2004 three Berlingske Tidende journalists, Michael Bjerre, Jesper Larsen, and Niels Lunde, were prosecuted for "harming state security" after publishing the details of classified intelligence reports about the lack of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. In December 2006 the three were acquitted by a Copenhagen court. See also Freedom of speech by country Censorship in Denmark References External links Danish Penal Code (in Danish). (English translation) Freedom of expression in Denmark - International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) Human rights in Denmark Denmark Denmark