Victoria can deny Nazis a breeding ground with deradicalisation instead of playing whack-a-mole with bans

‘Social movements in the US have also been extremely successful in undermining far-right movements by simply showing up, consistently showing that extremists are a minority and that progressive views can and will win.’ Photograph: James Ross/AAP

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews’ announcement about legislation to ban any public displays of the Nazi salute may seem like swift and decisive action, like the recent ban on the public display of swastikas, but such legislation is likely to do little to stop violent extremists, and could even hurt those it is supposed to help.

Criminalising a symbol or action, even one as odious as the Nazi salute, is extremely tricky and almost impossible to enforce. Groups can easily get around such bans by changing their symbols or gestures to avoid breaking the law. This happens online all the time.