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> “Right, boss, apparently because you keep talking about freedom, a large group of people are taking it to mean they have ‘freedom’ to harass people with slurs
by umvi 4y ago
> “Right, boss, apparently because you keep talking about freedom, a large group of people are taking it to mean they have ‘freedom’ to harass people with slurs and all sorts of abuse. People are leaving the site because of it, and advertisers are pulling ads.”
> That seems bad. Quick, have someone write up some rules against hate speech.
> Level Four: “We’re the free speech platform without CSAM, infringement or hate speech!”
This is where you have to draw the line and say: "Nope, hate speech is too subjective. I disagree with what they are saying, but unless it's against the law I will defend their right to say it"
- Etheryte 4y agoHate speech is illegal in numerous countries, Germany being the most prominent example. That specific case is covered in the article, too.
- umvi 4y agoWell then the crux of the issue is that you cannot build a global free speech platform. What is free speech in USA is illegal speech in Germany, China, etc. If you really want a free speech platform, you can only really deploy it in countries that respect the same level of free speech (or greater) as your own. And that's leaving a lot of money on the table for publicly traded companies, hence free speech morals go out the window in favor of growth/region-specific censorship.
- medvezhenok 4y agoIncitement to violence is illegal in the U.S.A. too. The line between hate speech and incitement to violence can get awfully blurry in some cases.
- hackerlight 4y agoThere is a line legally speaking, but not in reality if we're talking about the literal meaning of the words "incitement to violence". There are over three mass shooters in the US that were strictly radicalized by hate speech in online forums. That speech directly caused them to kill people.
- luckylion 4y agoIt depends. Hate speech (§130 StGb "Volksverhetzung") is illegal in Germany when it's directed at minorities, it's not illegal itself. When the German parliament voted to recognize the actions of the Turks against the Armenians as an act of genocide, a Turkish politician in Germany (Malik Karabulut) published that "this whore called Germany has declared war on us" and "Germans are a race of dogs" and similar stuff. There was some scandal, his political affiliations disowned him, but the prosecution decided not to move forward with the case because it's only illegal to perform hate speech against minorities and Germans are by definition not a minority in Germany.
- maronato 4y agoThe reality is that the line you draw is not the same as your advertisers’. As long as they remain the true customers of your service, not serving them will be bad for business.