This is why I cannot separate hate speech from free speech. I don't like hate speech. I don't condone it. But I cannot conceive of a safe way to separate the

This is why I cannot separate hate speech from free speech. I don't like hate speech. I don't condone it. But I cannot conceive of a safe way to separate the two. The first step must be to define what hate speech is, but we can't even all agree on that. All speech is free speech, even the parts I don't like - hate, lies, slander, and everything in between. That said, it's okay to regulate speech in some circumstances. You are legally obligated to tell the truth in court. It is rightfully illegal to lie about who you are in many scenarios. YouTube is private property and Google has the legal right to censor whatever speech they want on it. I don't think we should regulate that. However, who and what they censor shows us who they consider to be most valuable on their platform. Anyone who depends on YouTube should keep a close eye on Google's censorship patterns and constantly weigh their options. If you want to have any serious discussions about existing communist regimes, you'd be foolish to stay dependent on YouTube. EDIT: If you can come up with a way to distinguish between hate speech and free speech that can't be easily abused, I'm all ears.