7 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: Should we have freedom of hate speech?
Fair points. For us, the principles of "hate speech" run along what are known as "protected characteristics", which are: race, religion, gender, etc etc. As I said in my first reply above, you're never actually arrested just for saying a word. You're arrested for [harassment / criminal damage / public order offence / etc], which is a crime anyway. But if you did the crime *because* the other person is a different race, then your offence was "racially motivated".
"Motivated because you hate the government" doesn't really work for hate speech.
I agree with that it would be a nightmare if criticising the government became a crime whichever party was in power. I think you're much more likely to end up in that situation through terror and treason laws though.
Comment by pppppatrick at 31/01/2025 at 01:14 UTC
5 upvotes, 1 direct replies
No yeah, I hope I didn't come off as "oh my way is just better". I was just explaining the US's point of view. I do envy that your system works for you guys. because it's a sign that your society is more cohesive. instead of the hunger games that we seem to like to play on repeat.