François CholletVerified account

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

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

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

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...

...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.