Cindy Cole CS408-03 Assignment 5

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Assignment 5:Hate and the Internet

1. How would you define "hate speech?"

   Language or actions that apply sterotypes to an individual on the basis of a single charachteristic, such as race, gender, color, ethnicity, age, religion, disability or sexual orientation. These types of language and actions can lead to violence and intimidation.

2. Would you advocate placing limits on free expression in order to deal with the problems posed by hate speech? If so, how would you define those limits?

   I would advocate the limiting of free expression that uses hate speech to incite violence and illegal activities. I would want those limits defined by a group of moderate citizens and legislators.

3. Should we attempt to reach an international consensus on how to define hate speech and on the standards (if any) to be applied in dealing with it?

   I believe that it would be very beneficial to have an interantional consensus of the definition of hate speech, however, I feel as though developing standards on how hate speech would be dealt with would be a difficutl task considering the vast cultural and political differences across the globe.

4. Is censorship or filtering of hate group websites ever appropriate? If so, under what circumstances?

   I think hate group sites should be censored when they incite violence or promote illegal activities and their websites should be kept out of government funded computers like in libraries and public schools.

5. Should creators of hate-oriented Web sites be held responsible for actions of people (such as the 'lone wolves,' people who commit crimes of hatred without specific instructions) who view those sites and then commit hate crimes?

   I believe the creators of hate-oriented web sites should be held accountable for the site itself and the content shared on the web site. I do not believe they should be held responsible of the actions of those that view their site unless a clear and obvious cause and effect could be linked to the site.

6. Would you advocate special restrictions on making hate-related material available to children via the Internet? (If so, what would you propose?)

   Children should have no access to hate-related material and I would want it treated similarly to pornography. The restriction should be stronger than the simple "you must be 18 years or older to access this web site, if you are 18 years old or older check yes and continue" statements currently used. With all of the "apps" available today there must be a way to protect children from accidently or intentionally accessing this type of site.

7. Should there be any distinction between what is legal online and what is legal offline?

   Initially my gut response is that perhaps the internet should be treated like other print media, but how do we police information that comes from all over the world especially when considering legal activity in one state/country may be illegal in another, but ultimately I think our citizens (USA) should be held to the same standards whether it is online or offline.

8. Should the standards that apply to hate-related material be different from the standards that apply to other objectionable material such as pornography?

   I think using the standards set for pornography and applying them to hate-related material is an excellent idea. It is nealy impossible to set standards and guidelines for what is descent and obscene in our society with such right and left extremes but we should be able to develope guidelines that protect children and identify illegal activity and hold all of our society members to those standards.