Do you think it is in the best interest of a democracy to make such speech illegal? Why or why not? Clearly we would all agree that this hate and intolerance is foul, but is it up to the government to ban it? Must the speech intentionally incite people to violence in order for it to be banned?
Monday, February 9, 2015
Should a democracy ban hate speech?
There has been a rise in Anti-Semitic speech and propaganda on social media in the UK over the last year, which coincides with a broader anti-immigrant element that is becoming disturbingly prevalent. Read this article about many British MPs, including David Cameron calling for a possible ban for racists and other internet users who spew hateful and racist comments on social media.
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I believe it is not in the best interest of democracy to totally ban hate speech, but to discourage it
ReplyDeletesince it threatens the main goal of democracy. Democracy is centered around the idea of freedom but also eqality,
so if freedom is not acheived through freedom of speech, the objective of democracy is not fufilled. Hate speech
should be discouraged since it does incite violent behavior sometimes, and due to the violent nature of hate
speech, the government should step in to regulate hate speech on all spectrums of society. In the end, hate speech
should not be fully banned, but discouraged by limited actions by the government.
I do not think that banning speech in the best interest of a democracy will be okay because the citizens will feel as if the government is trying to prevent the right to free speech. I think that the ban on hate speech is a decision that the people have to make because everyone has to stop being racists. I think that the hate speech need not to incite violence in order to make it banned from the country.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that banning speech is the way to prevent hate speech in that when peoples rights are oppressed especially speech, they tend to find ways to physically convey how they feel. As for the question as to whether or not the government has the right to control speech. I don't think they do because speech is the most fundamental ways of expressing ourselves so when the government controls that they are in a sense controlling what makers us an individual.
ReplyDeletePlacing any restrictions on free speech is against the best interests of a democracy. This issue is just a part of the struggle of balancing freedom and equality in a society. The thought of rising nativism and antisemitism in Europe (especially after the events in Paris last month) are very disheartening. Nevertheless, censorship is an ineffective solution to the problem. Not only will citizens strive to circumvent restrictions to their speech, the government will not be able to act in the best interest of the people, which is a primary function of a democracy.
ReplyDeleteBanning hate speech will work against the best interests of democracy in terms of freedom of speech and equality in society. Like many other thing which are illegal, many people still do those things which will make it even more difficult to regulate due to the fact that all people have their own opinions and feel the need to voice their certain views to the world. For speech that incites violence, the government would have a difficult time trying to enforce certain laws to prevent the expression of hate speech without putting other personal freedoms at risk.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it would ever be justified to make it illegal for a "hate speech". When it comes to censorship in anything, the line gets blurry on what or what not to censor. Things may get out of hand with censorship and it may actually be counterproductive when trying to stifle violence. Oppressing speech may incite even more rebellion, causing even more problems for the government. I think it would be better off just to develop a thicker skin and get over what people say.
ReplyDeleteI definitely do not believe that banning hate speech would be a good idea for a democracy. Banning hate speech would lead into the uprising of citizens and chaos regarding peoples' freedom of speech. I think the democracy is better off dealing with and addressing the hate speeches in order to change peoples' mind and perspective rather than just making it illegal.
ReplyDelete