Hate speech laws

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I've been thinking about cyberbullying and troll-culture lately. Now, I'm American by the way, but I notice that all the western nations besides have hate speech laws to some varying degree. Since bullying and discrimination play into minorities (I personally don't think of AS as a minority status for me, but it does have some traits associated), and the same can be said for AS or any disorder, I now believe that we need hate speech laws in America to give neutral footing to any specific group. I try not to let my own personal bias and prejudices slip into how I view politics, nor be a collectivist on things. My views may change and I know this one is very unpopular for America, but what do you think hate speech laws should be established or stuff?

MusicalCat wrote:

It would be an unnecessary restriction on free speech and would further alienate minorities protected by such laws from the general populace.

If we passed a law restricting free speech, even just for hate speech, the government would use this as an excuse that laws infringing on the first amendment are constitutional and continue to erode our 1st amendment rights until they became nonexistent. It's either free speech for everyone, regardless of what they are saying, or no free speech at all.

Unfortunately, hate speech laws, no matter how well intended, create a slope towards banning speech that is simply not desirable. The writers of the Constitution placed the 1st Amendment above all overs because they understood that laws that regulate speech can be used to punish those who disagree. Perhaps no other part of our law is treated with such strict scrutiny as the 1st Amendment.

Hate speech is still free speech, no matter how stupid or evil it might me.

The Supreme Court recently upheld the right of the Westboro Baptist Church to continue speaking their horrible, hateful opinions. As long as they don't incite riots they can say what they want. I, like most Americans, believe this "church" to be disgusting and full of Orcs, not people.

As unpleasant as it is, it's protected here in the U.S.

Some of the anti-hate speech laws in Europe (most notably Sweden) consider reciting certain verses from the Bible or Quran in a sermon to be hate speech.

I am strongly opposed to laws that target hate speech alone.

The criminal law has plenty of tools to deal with speech that creates or has a real potential of creating a breach of the peace: incitement to riot, making those who counsel an offence a party to that offence and similar measures can all serve to give the state the means to punish those who would inflict harm (or have harm inflicted) on others.

But to criminalize their speech is to turn them into martyrs and to give them a credibility that they do not deserve. I say, "give them as much microphone cable as they want, and let them hang themselves with it."

pfft why not let people make asses of themselves for the whole world to see?

Though I think in some contexts hate speech should be barred.....for instance on a site to help people with mental health issues, it would make sense for them to bar hate speech as allowing it would only be detrimental. So for some specific senerios I'd say it should be barred, but making actual laws to ban it is probably taking it too far.