Ambiguity Of Hate Speech

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Feelings do not Trump Free Speech! Why is it, that people’s feelings seem to be more important than free speech in today’s society? Is “hate speech” not covered by free speech? this frightening trend present in society – the idea that words cause harm, and should therefore be limited. now, let us not misconstrue what I mean, I am not saying that “hate speech” (which is quite ambiguously defined as “speech which attacks a person or group on the basis of attributes such as gender, ethnic origin, religion, race, disability, or sexual orientation.” , obviously I do not stand for this, however, how will (or should) this be prohibited? I believe that people that advocate for these hate speech laws, are throwing the baby out with the bathwater, …show more content…

Part of what makes hate speech a delicate issue is that it is a subjective term, even when it is part of a legal code, what is qualified as hate speech is somewhat open to interpretation. So how can we ban something when we cannot even agree on what it is? This ambiguity leads to an even more serious problem, when it is selectively enforced to silence controversial viewpoints, by labeling something as hate speech you can brand those who disagree with you as bigots and delegitimize any arguments that go against their political agenda. And at that point accusing someone of hate speech is the same as accusing someone of a “thought crime”, because no one wants to listen to the opinions of a racist, sexist, right? and as we see more and more, the fear of being branded as a modern day equivalence of heresy, which in turn creates an unhealthy climate of debate for everyone. Personally I would rather have my feelings be hurt than be ruled by what essentially is a form of thought

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