A/HRC/9/25 page 15 (Otto-Preminger-Institut v. Austria). However, the cases from the European Court identify the following among the key factors to be taken into account in determining the permissible scope of limitations on hate speech grounds: provocative portrayals of objects of religious veneration “can be regarded as malicious violation of the spirit of tolerance, which must also be a feature of a democratic society”, as stated in its ruling in (Otto-Preminger-Institut v. Austria); it is a legitimate State objective under the Convention to protect “the rights of others” and, more specifically, to provide protection against seriously or gratuitously offensive attacks on matters regarded as sacred by a segment of the population, Christians (Wingrove v. United Kingdom) or Muslims (İ.A. v. Turkey); measures taken to protect against offensive attacks must be proportionate to the legitimate aim pursued and meet a “pressing social need” (İ.A. v. Turkey, Wingrove v. United Kingdom); and limitations of freedom of expression should not have the effect of discouraging authors and editors from publishing opinions about religion that were not conformist, and should not impede the protection of pluralism (Aydın Tatlav v. Turkey). The Inter-American system 65. Three of the key human rights instruments in the Inter-American system have similar provisions relevant to the freedom of religion: the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man of 1948; the American Convention on Human Rights “Pact of San José, Costa Rica”, and the Inter-American Declaration of Freedom of Expression. Article III of the American Declaration provides that “Every person has the right freely to profess a religious faith, and to manifest and practice it both in public and in private.” Article IV stipulates that “Every person has the right to freedom of investigation, of opinion, and of the expression and dissemination of ideas, by any medium whatsoever.” 66. Article 12 of the American Convention on Human Rights guarantees that “Everyone has the right to freedom of conscience and of religion. This right includes freedom to maintain or to change one’s religion or beliefs, and freedom to profess or disseminate one’s religion or beliefs, either individually or together with others, in public or in private.” It also provides that “no one shall be subject to restrictions that might impair his freedom to maintain or to change his religion or beliefs” and that “freedom to manifest one’s religion and beliefs may be subject only to the limitations prescribed by law that are necessary to protect public safety, order, health, or morals, or the rights or freedoms of others”. 67. Article 13 of the Convention guarantees the right to freedom of thought and expression, which includes the “freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing, in print, in the form of art, or through any other medium of one’s choice”. The exercise of the right “shall not be subject to prior censorship but shall be subject to subsequent imposition of liability, which shall be expressly established by law to the extent necessary to ensure: 1. respect for the rights or reputations of others; or 2. the protection of national security, public order, or public health or morals”. Moreover, the right of expression may not be restricted by indirect methods or means. 68. The only exception to the prohibition of prior censorship is in article 13 (4), which provides that “public entertainments may be subject by law to prior censorship for the sole purpose of regulating access to them for the moral protection of childhood and adolescence”. Paragraph 5 of that article provides that “any propaganda for war and any advocacy of national,