Confronting Hate Speech on the Web

It's interesting to see what the rules are for Facebook in Germany. They have laws against hate speech, including anything that relates to the horrors that were result of the country's past. It's not exactly free speech. I don't know if Holocaust denial groups would exist on Facebook Germany.

ummm...idk know...if people feel it as a threat or as something bad then yes take it off...but then if peolple see it as nothing wrong then no leave it there....

Bigotry isn't rational behavior, so attempts to engage in intelligent conversation usually fail to produce even a slim hope of lasting, positive change. It's even more difficult online because the anonymity provided by the Internet is what emboldens bigots in the first place. What a massive outreach *will* do is drive the bigots to other sites or behind gated areas; and maybe that's enough: positive harrassment. Ultimately though, bigotry is a symptom, not the disease; it stems from people's anxieties over securing a comfortable future for themselves and their families and their perceived helplessness in obtaining it. That's why hate spikes during times of national distress -- whether from terrorists or a grinding recession -- and always simmers in places of economic stagnation.

On internet there is no longer a real barrier for knee jerk reactions to be spread world-wide.
Free speech does not exist on an island, just like liberty. My liberty is, and should be, constrained, in so far that it may not endanger / hurt other people's liberty.
The same is true of 'free speech' - it cannot be an excuse for hate propaganda, which simply should not be tolerated, and for issues like porn, especially the sickest forms of it like child abuse and people traficking.
While education efforts are certainly desirable, they are extremely difficult and all too often futile in a lightning fast internet context.

Deanna, who makes that call? Hate speech is normally in the minority of a social group. If you “shut them up” who is next? Freedom of Speech also comes with responsibility. Do not let the Government control your thought nor do you let them control what you can choose to say. To deal with hate speech, is to meet the issue that they have. The Holocaust deniers have an agenda. It does not matter that it did happen, they want it to go away. They want to rewrite history. Kindof Like Disney does but with hate… Many groups want to rewrite history because it does not agree with their view on life. Learn their perspective and then educate from within.

One man's hate is another man's good idea.

Who decides?

Nothing should be removed, no matter how offensive it is. Offensive remarks and so-called hate speech are in the ears of the beholder. As "Biker Y" said, who makes that call?
More to the point, who gives anyone the right to make that call?
The Internet is the last bastion of free, non-politically correct speech on earth.
The politicians would LOVE to be able to figure out a way to regulate and censor it.
All for our own good, of course.

Please don't confuse free speech with hate propaganda which is designed to recruit vulnerable human beings to commit hate crimes against other human beings.

It is unlawful to yell out "fire" in a crowded theater because in the past people have been trampled to death in the panic which ensued. We need to realize that this does not fall under the protection of free speech either. This will cause innocent people to be hurt. Words have great power. Use them wisely.

The Jewish Internet Defense Force (JIDF) has been on the forefront of this issue:

http://www.thejidf.org

Heavy metal music has some of the most hateful websites but they make big money so who's gonna stop 'em? A Jewish executive at a record company is promoting them, you can't stop him, he has billions. Hate makes money. Sad but true. The love of money sucks.

No single person or group can say what constitutes hate speech anymore than they can choose who gets to speak and who does not. The Constitution is clear, no laws can be passed that abridge the Freedom of Speech and every cyber-social outlet should honor the 1st Amendment. Groups that hold extremist views should be challenged as much as mainstream views to insure we avoid tyranny creeping into our government.

The cover-ups continue today. Anyone who denies the Holocaust occurred is lying. I have recently read a book by Edwin Black called "IBM and the Holocaust: The Strategic Alliance Between Nazi Germany and America's Most Powerful Corporation." This book discusses how IBM provided Census data to the Hitler and then helped identify and exterminate millions of people. Unfortunately companies like IBM continue to trade Trust for Profits today. Anyone searching for the truth should read this. See link below.

http://www.amazon.com/IBM-Holocaust-Strategic-Alliance-Corporation/dp/0914153102/ref=ed_oe_p

In my Unitarian Universalist church, free speech is a treasured value, except when it attempts to trample other's rights. While I am definately a free speech advocate, I cannot defend someone's right to hurt others. That is oppression and we must not allow it.