An organization or nation that wants to encourage dissent cannot tolerate hate speech. Notice how countries that score the highest on press freedom also have strong hate speech laws. Not a coincidence
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Note: free speech and hate speech aren't best buddies. They're mortal enemies. If you want to foster an environment where people freely express dissent & unconventional views, as a precondition you need to make people feel safe. Especially people who aren't part of the majority
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Let's say, for ex, that I'm running a tech company. Innovation is our life blood -- we want people to express their ideas, even if (in fact especially if) they disagree with everyone else. Maximizing exposure to diverse opinions maximizes our chances to make the right decisions
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If, let's say, an employee writes a screed about how female engineers are biologically less capable of doing their job, I would actually fire that person. Not because they said something I disagree with (I couldn't care less), but because...
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...tolerance of this type of thing would mean making female employees feel less welcome, less accepted, and overall less safe, which runs against our objectives of fostering free expression. Likewise, you can't tolerate threats, etc. It's a precondition to establish a safe env.
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Now, you be disingenuously asking, isn't that a slippery slope? How do you define hate speech? It's easy, and you already know the definition. It's speech depicting a protected group as inferior, undesirable, or deserving violence. That's it.
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You can dissent all you want on ideas, but you can't paint a target on the back of a protected group. Note: 1. "Protected group" -- not some random group. E.g. "Italians", but not "Tesla owners". 2. A group, not individuals. Individuals are protected by a different set of laws.
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As a side note, I've never seen hate speech that had any intellectual value -- so you're not "weakening the public debate" by refusing to tolerate it. You're actually strengthening freedom of expression, by making *everyone* feel safe when expressing dissenting ideas.
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End of conversation
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Mutual respect is a must for free speech.
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Agreed. Though there needs to be a a consensus about what can reasonably be considered ‘safe.’
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Sounds contradictory. Can you provide an example that is “hate speech” that targets an ideology rather than a person or a group of person?
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