26 upvotes, 8 direct replies (showing 8)
View submission: Should we have freedom of hate speech?
In the UK, we have what's called Freedom of Expression - same deal in principle. But our freedoms / rights are considered to end at the moment you impede on someone else's freedoms.
You have the freedom to express anger. But if you express your anger through murdering someone, you're impeding that other person's right to be alive. Likewise, I have the freedom to say whatever I want. But my freedom ends the moment I'm impeding someone else's freedom to live peacefully, to live without persecution, etc. Happily, this also means that others don't have the right to impede my freedoms.
Some US conservatives like to say "in the UK you don't have free speech!" No mate. I'm free to say what I want - why do you *want* the freedom to shout racial slurs at minorities?
Slurs and hatred do still happen. In practice it's only serious cases that people get arrested for. Harassment, public order, etc. Take harassment as an example. Let's say someone has been repeatedly leaving voicemails, sending letters, and they graffitied your house. That's harassment (and criminal damage for graffiti). If their harassment was on the basis of a protected characteristic - i.e. your gender, race, religion, etc - then the charge is more serious. It could be "racially motivated harassment", for example. This basically increases the charge, and is intended to deter the spread of hatred. This does also protect straight white men.
Edit: also regarding news media, there's careful guidelines around slurs etc. The reason for that is to stop you stirring up hatred. Slurs are not serious analytical discussion, they are just hatred. Think of it like shouting "fire" in a theatre, or falsely shouting "terrorist" in an airport. Yes you'll be arrested - public order. You're doing it just to cause alarm. In the media's case, it would just be to spread hatred. For fiction, there's softer rules. But the take-away is, stopping the news from just posting slurs is actually *better* for analytical engagement.
Comment by sharpenme1 at 30/01/2025 at 23:06 UTC
27 upvotes, 2 direct replies
The only problem I could see here is that “someone’s freedom to live happily” or “peacefully” isn’t an objective standard. I’m sure the law in the UK is more granular. But if we start regulating speech based on how it makes people feel, you’re going to end up in a problematic situation because people are complicated and you don’t have to be expressing racial slurs to ruin someone’s peace or happiness-even inadvertently.
Comment by hiphoptomato at 31/01/2025 at 00:02 UTC
15 upvotes, 1 direct replies
My issue is that I've seen people call ridiculous things hate speech - like criticizing religion. I don't want hate speech to be illegal for a number of reasons, but mostly because I don't want someone telling me I can't criticize others for their hate, misogyny, xenophobia, and backwards thinking.
Comment by rampant_hedgehog at 30/01/2025 at 23:03 UTC
13 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Here in the US there are conservatives who use this argument to say that teaching about the history of slavery, or about systemic racism impedes people’s right to live free of guilt, and damages their self esteem. I find it disingenuous, but the issue does call into question how these boundaries should be drawn.
Comment by Woke_Wacker at 30/01/2025 at 23:41 UTC
11 upvotes, 1 direct replies
So what's your take on the cancellation of individuals voicing opinions about controversial topics. For example
Is it impeding on someone's rights to refute their idiology?
Comment by [deleted] at 30/01/2025 at 23:47 UTC
9 upvotes, 2 direct replies
[deleted]
Comment by pppppatrick at 31/01/2025 at 00:13 UTC
11 upvotes, 1 direct replies
why do you want the freedom to shout racial slurs at minorities?
I don't want the freedom to shout racial slurs. but rather that I don't trust the government to be fair about what is a slur and what is not a slur.
This is why there are a few comments under you saying it's vague. What if they made talking bad things about republicans hate speech? Yes, you and I see the very big difference between republicans(a party), and skin color. But what is stopping the people that don't see it? or see it but don't care because it helps their cause?
This is why the first amendment grants so much freedom in speech. Because as a collective, we don't trust the government to do it properly.
Comment by arogantant at 30/01/2025 at 22:50 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Thank you for the outside view. Murder is impeding someone's right to live? I love it😂
Comment by [deleted] at 31/01/2025 at 02:35 UTC*
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
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