Defining “hate speech” is a classic eye-of-the-beholder problem: At
what point does heated speech become hate speech and who should be in
charge of drawing the line between the two? “The notion of a single
definition of hate speech that everyone can agree on is probably
illusory,” Foxman and Wolf note, especially because of “the continually
evolving and morphing nature of online hate.” (p. 52, 103) “Like
every other form of human communication, bigoted or hateful speech is
always evolving, changing its vocabulary and style, adjusting to
social and demographic trends, and reaching out in new ways to
potentially receptive new audiences.” (p. 92)
Many free
speech advocates (including me) argue that the government should not
be in the business of ensuring that people never have their feelings
hurt. Censorial solutions are particularly problematic here in the
United States since they would likely run afoul of the protections
secured by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The
clear trajectory of the Supreme Court’s free speech jurisprudence over
the past half-century has been in the direction of constantly
expanding protection for freedom of expression, even of the most
repugnant, hateful varieties. Most recently, in Snyder v. Phelps,
for example, the Court ruled that the Westboro Baptist Church could
engage in hateful protests near the funerals of soldiers. “[T]his
Nation has chosen to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to
ensure that public debate is not stifled,” ruled Chief Justice John
Roberts for the Court’s 8-1 majority. The Court has also recently held
that the First Amendment protects lying about military honors (United States v. Alvarez, 2012), animal cruelty videos (United States v.
Stevens, 2010), computer-generated depictions of child pornography (Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, 2002), and the sale of violent video games to minors (Brown v. EMA, 2011). This comes on top of over 15 years of Internet-related jurisprudence in which courts have struck down every effort to regulate online expression. 6.24.13 --(Adam Thierer) Technology Liberation Front
MEME REPORT:
ASHLEY VS HILLARY