Thursday, September 15, 2011
Hate Speech
According to the Free Speech Museum's Hate Speech page, hate speech can be defined as a racist and anti-Semetic speech and is protected under the First Amendment. There is no exception for the hate speech under the First Amendment unless it fits under "libel, obscenity, or fighting words" then it can receive the same guarantee as any other speech according to the site. According to the site, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, and other Western democracies ban hate speech. Although a luxury and guarantee being an American citizen is freedom of speech, that does not mean we should use speech as a form of hatred. We are given the privilege of freedom of speech so we can speak our minds, and to vote. I also believe hate speech should not be allowed on the Web,however it is hard to censor that, so I believe it should be monitored by the government or an agency so hate speeches can be kept to a minimum as much as possible. So I believe we should censor hate speech because although the question of it violating our constitutional right to freedom of speech however at the same time, hate speech could make others feel they are not safe or they are being harmed which crosses the boundaries of freedom of speech because others are being put in danger. A less formal to reduce hate speech would be to question those who are provoking hate speech as to why do they feel that way and feel they should express it in those terms.
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I completely agree with you! Yes we do have the freedom to have freedom of speech but that does not mean we should use it for bad! I also do not think it should be allowed on the internet cause it could be used as a form of bullying over the internet. Because it is hard to monitor things on the internet 24-7 people take it advantage and hurt other people. However hate speech is more commonly used in person and is wrong it could be used as racism or again just bullying someone. I think this is wrong because someone could get hurt!
ReplyDeleteGood job i really liked your post! =)
Hi little miss daisy,
ReplyDeleteGreat post addressing this topic! I liked how you said, “although a luxury and guarantee being an American citizen is freedom of speech, that does not mean we should use speech as a form of hatred.” It is easy to forget how privileged we are in having this right since it is such a norm for us. Whereas, there are other countries that do not extend this right to their citizens and those who speak ill of their government get punished. I agree with you that hate speech should not be on the Web, but it would be very hard to censor. Honestly, the Web is so vast and information flows so freely. It can definitely be harmful if people, like children, run across hate speech and cannot fully comprehend it.
-Flora
Hey little miss daisy!
ReplyDeleteGreat post =) You brought up many good post. I agree with you a 100% about hate speech being inappropriate and making people feel unsafe and harmed. I think that it would be a great idea to have a government agency regulates hate on the web. I feel that the United States should have banned hate speech a while ago. I think it would be interesting for people to question why they feel the need to participate in hate speech and to find out why they have such a hatred for whatever group they despise. I def agree that hate speech should not be covered under the first amendment anymore.
I agree with much of what you said sweetheart. Pure hate should always be censored because it serves no purpose other than to instill fear in those who hear it. It can be threatening, and threats are illegal. However I do feel there is only so much the government can do when it comes to the internet. It is simply impossible to regulate. Although on the bright side of things it could open a whole new job market of “Cyber Police” that track down these sorts of things, but I don’t think this is anywhere near going to happen soon.
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