Home > Hate speech
Hate speech is a controversial term for speech intended to hurt and intimidate someone because of their race, ethnicity, national origin , religion, sexual orientation, disability, or other personal characteristics, or to incite violence or prejudicial action. 1 Controversy
There is considerable debate over how or whether hate speech can be defined; whether speech thus labeled ought to be regulated; and if so, how and by whom. These debates center on three critical questions: First, what is the force of speech? Is it the expression of personal thoughts, or is it a form of action that affects and can harm others? Second, is the free expression of ideas which some perceive as hateful necessary for healthy public debate , or is it harmful to public debate? Third, should governmental policies be founded upon the protection of interests and rights of individuals, or of identifiable groups — such as sexual orientation (e.g., homosexuals) and race (e.g., racial minorities )? Legitimate criticism normally protected in USA under the First Amendment is sometimes labeled "hate speech" by the critiqued.
2 Legal aspects in the United States
In the United States, government is broadly forbidden by the First Amendment to the Constitution from restricting speech. Jurists generally understand this to mean that the government cannot regulate the content of speech, but that it can sanction the harmful effects of speech through laws against slander and libel.
Since such laws often apply only to the victimization of specific individuals, some argue that hate speech must be regulated to protect members of groups. Others argue that hate speech limits the free development of political discourse and ought to be regulated, but by voluntaristicA volunteer noun is a person who performs or offers to perform a service out of his or her own free will, often without payment. The year 2001 was the International Year of the Volunteer. People may volunteer verb to perform charitable work. Some voluntee communities and not by the state. Still others claim that it is not possible to legislate a boundary between legitimate controversial speech and hate speech in such a way which is just to those with controversial political or social views.
3 Speech codes
Various institutions in the United States and EuropeFor the band of the same name, see Europe (band . Europe is a continent forming the westermost part of the Eurasian supercontinent. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Se began developing codes to limit or punish hate speech in the 1990s, on the grounds that such speech amounts to discriminationTo discriminate is to make a distinction. There are several meanings of the word, including statistical discrimination, or the actions of a circuit called a discriminator. This article addresses the most common meaning of the word, social, racial, religio. Thus, such codes prohibit words or phrases deemed to express, either deliberately or unknowingly, hatred or contempt towards a group of people, based on areas such as their ethnic, cultural, religious or sexual identity, or with reference to physical or mental healthMental health mental hygiene and mental wellness are all terms used to describe the absence of mental illness. It has been suggested by some that mental wellness can be a positive attribute, such that a person can become more "mentally healthy" even if th.
It may also in some contexts challenge the rights of individuals based on any or all of the above criteria.
In addition to legal prohibition in many jurisdictions, prohibition of the use of hate speech has been written into the bylaws of some governmental and non-governmental institutions such as public universitiesA university is an institution of higher education and of research, which grants academic degrees. A university provides both tertiary and quaternary education. University is derived from the Latin universitas meaning corporation since the first medieval, trade unions and other organizations (see below). Its use is also frowned upon by many publishing houses, broadcasting organizations and newspaper groups.
