4 ms·

What is hate speech? Can you define it for me? Better yet, use legal definitions.

by cwhiz 6y ago

cdavid 6y ago
As the OP mentioned, many countries, including democratic ones, do have laws around hate speech. Wikipedia has a few words about it in English: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech_laws_in_France#The_penal_code https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech_laws_in_France#The... You also have laws against defamation that consider it illegal to defame people based on race and other criteria (since the 19th century in France).
- pnako 6y ago
  The last such law in France was just cancelled for being unconstitutional. And in practice they are impossible to enforce for a platform like Facebook, since in the end it's a judge who has to decide what is, and what is not hate speech. In practice, enforcement is selective and the sentences are never formally enforced since it would create de-facto political prisoners, which gives a bad image to a democratic country. So I'm not sure they're a good example.
- cwhiz 6y ago
  Okay, let me be more specific. Define it for me in US law.
zamalek 6y ago
Hate speech isn't a legal construct in the US. It is, however, a social construct. This is a social issue. Nobody is taking Facebook to court over this. In addition, freedom of speech IS NOT the right to be heard. This ignorant censorship argument is getting old and is immensely ignorant. I can walk away from some idiot spouting racist vitriol, just as much as Verizon can walk away from a platform that is infested with racist vitriol. They can continue to spout or host that vitriol, but nobody has to listen and nobody had to do business with them. Facebook can continue to host this garbage, exactly like anybody is free to boycott them for that. If they lose all the business then the market and society has spoken.
JoshTriplett 6y ago
The great thing about not defining it in law is that anyone is free to use their own definition when deciding who they support, who they give money and patronage to, and who they host the content of.

What is hate speech? Can you define it for me? Better yet, use legal definitions.

by cwhiz 6y ago

What is hate speech? Can you define it for me? Better yet, use legal definitions.

As the OP mentioned, many countries, including democratic ones, do have laws around hate speech. Wikipedia has a few words about it in English: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech_laws_in_France#The_penal_code https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech_laws_in_France#The... You also have laws against defamation that consider it illegal to defame people based on race and other criteria (since the 19th century in France).

pnako 6y ago
The last such law in France was just cancelled for being unconstitutional. And in practice they are impossible to enforce for a platform like Facebook, since in the end it's a judge who has to decide what is, and what is not hate speech. In practice, enforcement is selective and the sentences are never formally enforced since it would create de-facto political prisoners, which gives a bad image to a democratic country. So I'm not sure they're a good example.
cwhiz 6y ago
Okay, let me be more specific. Define it for me in US law.

zamalek 6y ago

Hate speech isn't a legal construct in the US. It is, however, a social construct. This is a social issue. Nobody is taking Facebook to court over this. In addition, freedom of speech IS NOT the right to be heard. This ignorant censorship argument is getting old and is immensely ignorant. I can walk away from some idiot spouting racist vitriol, just as much as Verizon can walk away from a platform that is infested with racist vitriol. They can continue to spout or host that vitriol, but nobody has to listen and nobody had to do business with them. Facebook can continue to host this garbage, exactly like anybody is free to boycott them for that. If they lose all the business then the market and society has spoken.

JoshTriplett 6y ago

The great thing about not defining it in law is that anyone is free to use their own definition when deciding who they support, who they give money and patronage to, and who they host the content of.