Tony Cuzner CS408-Section 2

Assignment 5: Hate and the Internet

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1. How would you define "hate speech?"
   Hate speech is a type of talk that’s only purpose is to be hurtful.
2. Would you advocate placing limits on free expression (as most European countries do) in order to deal with the problems posed by hate speech? If so, how would you define those limits?
   Yes I would advocate for something like this. I feel hate speech is meaningless. The only reason for it is to hurt people so it should not be allowed at all. I feel the law should be somewhat lenient though since freedom of speech is something that lets us express how we feel.
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?
   Yes. I feel if we reached a definition on what “hate speech” actually is then it would be easier to define what information on the internet is not. Until hate speech is defined I do not think it is possible to create a law to prevent it.
4. Is censorship or filtering of hate group websites ever appropriate? If so, under what circumstances?
   Yes filtering of those types of websites should be approved in places like schools and libraries.
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 do not think the creators of websites should be held accountable if they have no control over what these “lone wolves” say. If anything the creators of the websites should be responsible for blocking these bad people and clearing their site of any “hate speech.” There is a difference between expressing your feelings and being hurtful.
6. Would you advocate special restrictions on making hate-related material available to children via the Internet? (If so, what would you propose?)
   I feel like this would be too hard to create and to uphold. If anything “hate speech” should be banned from the internet and not to just one specific age group or area of the world. It would be easier to control the law this way.
7. Should there be any distinction between what is legal online and what is legal offline?
   I feel it would be too hard to control what is offline since it would be hard to track. So even though it could be viewed as “hate speech” I feel what we should be focusing on is what CAN be viewed online.
8. Should the standards that apply to hate-related material be different from the standards that apply to other objectionable material such as pornography?
   This is a hard question to answer; I feel that all hateful speech and information on the internet should be taken down. We should want the internet to be a place of wisdom and fun. Not hatred and hurtfulness. So in my opinion ANYTHING, no matter what category it falls under, that is hateful should be prohibited on the internet.