“grayscale photo of woman doing silent hand sign” by Kristina Flour on Unsplash

The War on Hate Speech is a War on Freedom

Sindy Ardila
Sep 8, 2018 · 4 min read

The freedom to share our values, thoughts, ideas, and opinions was once reserved to the confines of the social circles we ran in. However, with the rise of social media we now have the ability to engage in conversations and commentary on a variety of different subjects at any given moment with anyone else who is connected to the internet. The ever-growing platforms of social media have added ease to sharing information, but it has not guaranteed that everyone participating will conduct themselves civilly or politely. In response, a debate has emerged on whether or not “hate speech” should be respected as free speech. With all of the hatred and polarizing remarks that swirl around on the Twitter-sphere who can blame them?

Hate speech is defined as “speech that attacks, threatens, or insults a person or group on the basis of national origin, ethnicity, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability” by dictionary.com. Laws that ban hate speech already exist in other countries. Canada, for example, has laws that criminalize speech deemed as hateful.

Section 319(2) of the Criminal Code of Canada states:
“Every one who, by communicating statements, other than in private conversation, wilfully promotes hatred against any identifiable group is guilty of
(a) an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years; or (b) an offence punishable on summary conviction”

Similarly, laws like these exist in Europe and Australia. The question then begs, should the United States also set limitations on freedom of speech to eliminate the use of hate speech in the United States?
The KKK is a group that has built a platform on hateful rhetoric. They are responsible for acts of violence like the brutal murder in 1955 of Emmett Till a 14-year-old Black boy. This is just one of many violent acts that were committed by them. The United States has since then put laws in place that punish hate crimes. For some, hate speech itself is seen as an act of violence. For others like myself, that statement is not only ludicrous but inconsistent with the definition of violence. The idea of someone’s freedoms being stripped just because they are considered offensive is terrifying.

In 1969, the Supreme Court decided that a KKK member’s speech was protected in the Brandenburg vs. Ohio case. More recently in the 2011 Snyder V. Phelps case, the Supreme Court ruled that the Westboro Baptist Church members had the right to use signs with hateful messages on them.

http://www.godhatesfags.com/photos/index.html

Both of these groups are known for their hate-filled rhetoric, and yet in the highest court of the land, their right to say whatever they want was still protected. Why? As Justice Samuel Alito puts it, “Speech that demeans on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, disability, or any other similar ground is hateful; but the proudest boast of our free speech jurisprudence is that we protect the freedom to express “the thought that we hate.”

A Response to Ben Shapiro’s rhetoric seen as “hate speech”

When our founding father’s were writing the Bill of Rights, they included freedom of speech because they saw it as undeniable individual liberty. Amendment I states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” They saw limitations on speech as essential in the process a government must take to strip the people of their liberty.

“If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” ― George Washington

“I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.” ― James Madison

“First Amendment freedoms are most in danger when the government seeks to control thought or to justify its laws for that impermissible end. The right to think is the beginning of freedom, and speech must be protected from the government because speech is the beginning of thought.” — Justice Anthony Kennedy

The truth is hate speech cannot be separate from free speech. The beauty of the first amendment is that we can say whatever we want to say even when it is considered unacceptable. Sure, it is within the realm of possibilities that people will say hateful things. However, that does not mean that we should advocate for the voices of those people to be silenced. Limiting speech limits thought. It limits creativity and hinders change. As a nation, we have experienced shifts in cultural norms because of new ideas. At different times periods, the freedom to express differing thoughts was available. We should not forget that the same freedom that allowed people to advocate against slavery and fight for women’s suffrage rights is the same freedom that allows people to freely state their opinion on Twitter, no matter how small minded. A call for silence is not a call for individual thought or freedom. Its intention may be to protect, but it falls short. Insisting that no one demeans our thoughts, ideas or opinions is not the right answer. Instead, let’s embrace conflicting and even offensive speech to help us identify the truth and the lies in the things we believe.

“The remedy for speech that is false is speech that is true. This is the ordinary course in a free society. The response to the unreasoned is the rational; to the uninformed, the enlightened; to the straight-out lie, the simple truth.” Justice Anthony Kennedy

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