The timing of this discussion is really interesting to me because we are lightly touching on the topic of Hate Speech in my Media Law class.
So far, I have learned that Hate Speech is one of the few things that is not protected under the First Amendment. This means that if someone is sued for Hate Speech, they can not make the defense that they have a right to speaking freely. You are able to express Hate Speech, but you are not protected if someone turns it against you, so after reading the Hate Speech website I am confused. This website explains that Hate Speech is protected, so I'm not sure which is right. Regardless of this, what I learned about Hate Speech is that the people who engage use it in a racist or anti-semitic way, literally voicing their hate against an individual or a group.
I believe, that no form of Hate Speech should be tolerated, ever. This is because I do believe in the freedom of speech, but when used to hurt someone or initiate violence against someone, there should be no tolerance for it. Hate happens from misunderstanding or ignorance against a person or group. So whether it is protected or not under the First Amendment, I feel it should be censored and punished. I feel like unless punished by law, people will never learn to end Hate Speech.
Sorry if you get more than one comment from me because I thought I commented earlier but I guess it didn't get posted. But I thought your post was really interesting and you did a really good job on it. I would expect that by now that hate speech would not be protected by freedom of speech. As hate speech has caused so many problems especially among teens. I would think that if it isn't protected by law than parents of young teens who have committed suicide because of hate speech and bullying would be able to press chargers. Your media law class sounds really informative and your post made me want to research further into the topic to find out the truth.
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