9 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: Should we have freedom of hate speech?
There's a few things to say there.
First, as I explained in detail above, freedom of expression does not mean "I can say whatever I want". The content of what's being said matters. So.. What was the content of the radio show? What did she actually say?
From your article, **there are no quotes** from the radio show. There is no indication of the content. a person could say "I think that transgender spaces pose some serious questions regarding policies", which is perfectly fine. Or one could say [insert bunch of slurs], which is not fine. You could call both "questioning gender ideology", but there is a clear difference between those two.
Perhaps I could put this in terms you understand. There is a clear difference between saying "white people face struggles in society, though there are certain issues that don't really affect white people", and saying "I don't understand white people. They're also horrible to look at." You *could* say that both of these are rejecting some "ideology", but it's obvious that they're very different statements.
In short, your article provides *one interpretation* of why she was removed, but does not lay out *what was actually said*.
Comment by Woke_Wacker at 31/01/2025 at 01:33 UTC
4 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Well, that's the thing. I can't actually find what was actually said. If what was said was so aggregous that she is barred from a university radio show, I would have expected to at least find some actual quotes from the show itself, somewhere. She also states that she invited two guests who were critical of gender idiology, 'platforming' them. However, there are interviews with connie shaw, and in none of them, does she engage in any speech that would meet your criteria for hate speech. Though she was not punished by law, she was socially ostracised and removed from her position for her views. That seems like a clear violation of someone's personal right to freedom of speech, and it's not like it's the first time.
Anyway. Freedom of expression fundermentally does mean you can say whatever you want to say (anger and hatred are forms of expression), but laws have made certain forms of expression an exception. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. As you say, infringing on another's right to be free from discrimination is probably not a great idea. However, this is where things get messy in regards to free speech and even opinions or objections to certain political policies, ideas, and ideologies, slur free, are attacked by the cancel culture that is so prominent in the uk. That's my take on it anyway.