The wording of an official definition of Islamophobia has been rehashed, amid concerns about the impact it could have on free speech, according to reports.
A Government working group will aim to focus on defining âanti-Muslim hateâ instead of Islamophobia, according to the Telegraph.
Critics of the efforts to create a new legal definition for Islamophobia had raised concerns that doing so could create backdoor blasphemy laws, and curtail speech about Islamic extremism.
Ministers launched the working group aimed at defining Islamophobia or anti-Muslim hatred in February, in an effort to help stem rising numbers of hate crimes against Muslims.
The review of the definition, led by former Conservative minister Dominic Grieve, is said to have moved away from using the words âIslamophobiaâ and âMuslimnessâ, according to the Telegraph.
New wording will aim to define hatred towards Muslims, but also protect free speech, the newspaper said.
Crossbench peer Baroness Gohir, one of the experts on the working group, told the newspaper she expected the public to be âpleasantly surprisedâ when the review concludes.
Lady Gohir, who is also chief executive of the Muslim Womenâs Network UK, added: âI expect those who opposed the already existing definitions for being too vague, or because they felt these prevented criticism of Islam or debate of other issues of concern to them, will want ministers to adopt ours, as I believe it resolves those concerns.â
She also warned that if the groupâs wording is not adopted, the current âproblematicâ definition will continue to be used.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said it did not comment on leaks and was considering the working groupâs recommendations.
When the working group was launched at the end of February, it said it aimed to deliver a new definition within six months.
The Telegraph said Communities Secretary Steve Reed has received the final wording of the new definition to make a decision on it.
