Hate Speech on the Internet

2995 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Arguments on hate speech

Hate Speech on the Internet I. Hate Speech on the Internet Generally, hate speech receives constitutional protection and is not prosecuted that is why there are relatively few court cases addressing this issue on the Internet. For this reason, sites containing speech discriminating people because of their race or sexual inclinations are available on the Internet. These include the "Ku Klux Klan," "Nazis," "White Socialist Party," "Skinheads" or "Aryan Nation," for example, which speech is not directed to any person in particular, thus not punishable. In addition, the nature of this medium makes it difficult to trace the perpetrators of hate crime indeed, Web sites are easily relocated or abandoned when legal problems arise. In RAV v. St Paul , the Supreme Court defined that speech leading to racially motivated violence could be punished. Hence, threatening private message involving racial epithet sent over the Internet to someone, as well as a public message on a Web site, are legally actionable. II. The Internet At the dawn of the new century, the rise of new media such as the Internet, seem to create new issue about the limitations of free speech. However the chore of some free speech cases remains the same as in the past 100 years. The Internet is an outgrowth of a military program called "ARPANET," which began in 1969. The ARPANET no longer exists, and today the Internet is an international network of interconnected computers. The Internet is "a unique and wholly new medium of worldwide human communication." People can access the Internet from many different sources, several major national "online services" such as America Online, or CompuServe provide access to their own networks as well as broader li... ... middle of paper ... ...indlaw.com/expression "Hatecrime." http://ucl.boward.cc.fl.us "Hate Speech: The Speech that kills." http//www.indexoncensorship.org "Indecency, Ignorance, and Intolerance: The First Amendment and the Regulation of Electronic Expression." http://warthog.cc.wm.edu Internet Law Library. Available at: http://www.priweb.com "Legal Information Institute." www.law.edu/topics/communication Middleton, Kent R., Trager Robert, and Chamberlin, Bill F. The Law of Public Communication (New York: Addison Wesley Longman, 2000. "Pending Court Cases and Legislation." http://www.nlp.cs.umass.edu/aw/ch13 Perkins Coie LLP. www.perkinscoie.com "State Law on Hate Crime." httpp://gsulaw.gsv.edu/lawland "Telecommunications and The First Amendment" Available at http://www.bsos.umd.edu "Terrorism on the Internet." www.loundy.com

Show More
Related

  • The Napster and Grokster Cases: Differences and Similarities

    883 Words  | 2 Pages

    Zelezny, J. (2011). Communications Law: Liberties, Restraints, and the Modern Media. Boston, MA: Wadsworth-Cengage Learning.

    Read More

  • The Scope of Free Speech: Categoricalism versus The Balancing Approach

    1014 Words  | 3 Pages

    The free speech clause in the Bill of Rights states: “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech” (US Const., amend I). This clause, albeit consists of a mere ten words, holds much power and affluence in the American unique way of life. It guarantees Americans the right to speak freely without censorship by preventing the government from restricting the rights of the people to express their opinions. Consequently, this freedom can encourage citizens’ participation in politics; promote an adaptable and tolerant community; facilitate the discovery of truth; and ultimately create a stable nation. However, how much freedom should be granted to an individual? Where should the line be drawn for the coverage free speech protection? (1) What happens when the exercise of free speech puts other constitutional values in jeopardy? What values should prevail? (2) In an attempt to address these questions, many opposing interpretations have been presented. While some construe this clause in an absolute, categorical approach, others take on a more lenient, balancing stance. (1)

    Read More

  • Against Hate Speech

    719 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hate speech directs people to commit hateful crimes. The difference between hate crimes and regular crimes is that hate crimes are committed to a person because of his/her differences. Some examples of differences would be their gender, race, hair color, body shape, intelligence, sexual orientation, etc. Hate speech doesn’t have to be direct talking. Hate speech can now be down on the Internet or through magazine; and more people are using the Internet to publicize their vile beliefs. In the last five years, the number of hate crimes that have been reported to the FBI has increased by 3,743 (FBI statistics). That means that 11,690 hate crimes were reported in 2000 in only 48 states and not all police forces released their data. Imagine how many other hate crimes were committed that weren’t even reported to the police. Ethnic and racial violence or tension has decreased in Europe due to newly implemented hate speech laws (ABC News).

    Read More

  • Exonerating Wrongly Convicted People

    2160 Words  | 5 Pages

    ...Gale Encyclopedia of Everyday Law. Ed. Shirelle Phelps. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 2003. 265-271. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. Tarrant County College. 2 Mar. 2011 .

    Read More

  • Should Hate Speech be Regulated?

    1537 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hate speech is a very important topic, especially in the United States. Many do not know the thin line between criticisms and hate speech. One way criticism and hate speech differ is the intention of hate speech, if it was used purposely for “the stirring of hatred and hostility t...

    Read More

  • Free Speech and Pornography

    530 Words  | 2 Pages

    First Amendment protections were upheld in the case of Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, 521 U.S. 844 (1997) (Reno, 1997). The Communications Decency Act of 1996 was found to violate the First Amendment’s protection of freedom of speech. In appealing the CDA, appellees were hoping that the court would determine that the CDA violated both First and Fifth Amendment rights. While the court agreed that the CDA violated First Amendment rights, they did not rule on the issue of Fifth Amendment rights violations. Both constitutional and criminal issues were being addressed in this appeal.

    Read More

  • Hate Speech Research Paper

    1823 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hate speech, According to American Bar Association is "that offends, threatens, or insults groups, based on race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, other traits (American).” Hate speech can include “insulting nouns for racial groups, degrading caricatures, a threat of violence, and literature portraying individual as animal-like. There has been long debate whether to protect hate speech in the United States. The hate speech has been protected because it been fundament principle of the constitution. The some part of speech are regulated by the government usually are fighting words which are motivated to

    Read More

  • Difference Between Free Speech And Hate Speech

    832 Words  | 2 Pages

    In society the topic of free speech comes up very frequently. One side will argue that there should be no limit on what someone wants to say, while others believe that the idea on full free speech is dangerous and should be restricted. In a video that was presented to us there was a debate that conquered this topic on why or why not this should be allowed. This topic of free speech has gone on for decades and continues to be a fight on whether it should be limited.

    Read More

  • Hate Speech

    1857 Words  | 4 Pages

    “If the goal is to promote peaceful coexistence among human beings enjoying equal dignity and respect, isn’t allowing everyone his or her say a reflection of that respect?” (David Cole). Freedom of speech, as it is protected under the first amendment, is perhaps the most important component of a democratic society. Without it people cannot speak their minds, cannot point out injustices being done by the government. Without it people are silenced. The right to speak up stretches across many topics, but not all of them are the kindest. Hate speech is a protected form of free speech, which is controversial amongst many because of its inherently hateful nature. In fact, some people argue it should not be protected under the first amendment at all. If hate speech is to be made illegal however, it would lead to the censorship of society as whole, and would be reminiscent of the days of Hitler and Mussolini. People were shot down simply for stating an opinion. Additionally, there is no need to ban hate speech as it would be unconstitutional, and if it does lead to hate crimes those hate crimes can be dealt with using pre existing laws. As the saying goes, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

    Read More

  • Libel On Social Media Essay

    1520 Words  | 4 Pages

    Middleton, Kent, and William E. Lee. The Law of Public Communication. N.p.: Pearson Education, 2014. Print.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Internet Censorship

    1557 Words  | 4 Pages

    Nevertheless, Internet censorship makes it more difficult for extremists to connect with each other. Government imposed online censorship allows posts to be analyzed by officials to help them track down and arrest those who are posting the messages, effectively reducing crime. Despite this extreme case and many other minor ones involving racist email harassment, racist blog posts, and racist social media accounts on Twitter, developed countries such as the United States have no laws ruling against the mistreatment of others online (Qazi). Although free speech is fundamental to society, it crosses a line once people are physically

    Read More

  • The Internet and Rapidly Developing Technology

    1571 Words  | 4 Pages

    But where did this all came from? Just when did we start using the internet the way we use it today? Clearly, these sorts of questions can be answered in simple, concise way. The internet was born in 1969 as a segment of research project of Department of Defense. Back then, the internet was known as ARPANET, a forerunner of the internet. Since the birth of the internet up to 1980's, Internet was used mostly by Universities and experts who knew their way around its complex systems and workings.

    Read More

  • Freedom Of Speech: Free Speech Vs. Hate Speech

    1001 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are two sides of a coin; the same way freedom can be bifurcated into two, namely free speech and hate speech.

    Read More

  • Freedom of Speech in Cyberspace

    2593 Words  | 6 Pages

    Unknown Author. An Overview of the Communications Decency Act (CDA). Center for Democracy & Technology. Retrieved 26 April 2004.

    Read More

  • The History Of The Internet

    778 Words  | 2 Pages

    Term Paper: The History of the Internet      The Internet began like most things in our society, that is to say that the government started it. The Internet started out as an experimental military network in the 1960s. Doug Engelbart prototypes an "Online System" (NLS) which does hypertext browsing, editing, email, and so on. The Internet is a worldwide broadcasting resource used for distributing information and a source for interaction between people on their computers.      In 1973, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) initiated a research program to investigate techniques and technologies for interlinking packet networks of various kinds.

    Read More

More about Hate Speech on the Internet

Open Document