Tim Curran Cs408-02 Assignment 5 Freedom of Speech

Hate and the Internet

1. How would you define "hate Speech'?
   I would define hate speech as anything negative said to someone that was specific to their race, gender, ect.
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?
   No I wouldn't advocate it because I feel that just because some people use it in less then desirable ways doesn't mean we should punish those who don't.
3. Should we attempt to reach an international consensus on how to define hate speech and on the standards to be applied in dealing with it?
   I think that before we try to reach an international consensus I think we first need to figure out how to handle it in our country first then we can think about taking it international.
4. Is censorship or filtering of hate group websites ever appropriate? If so, under what circumstances?
   I don't think that it is, its people's choice as to what websites they go on if it's something they don't like then they don't have to go on it. I don't think we can just censor things just because most of people don't like it.
5. Should creators of hate-oriented Web sites be held responsible for actions of people who view those sites and then commit hate crimes?
   I think that they should, if someone reads their material and it leads them to committing a crime they should be held just as responsible as the person who did it.
6. Would you advocate special restrictions on making hate-related material available to children via the Internet?
   I think that there should be restrictions on letting children see material like this. They should have to prove in some way or another that they are 18 before they are able to view the material otherwise we could be putting violent material in the hands of at risk youth.
7. Should there be any distinction between what is legal online and what is legal offline?
   I think that there shouldn't be any difference between what's legal online and what legal offline. We shouldn't allow people to say or do things online because they are illegal offline, there should be no difference between the two.
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 that as long as it's not illegal then there should be the same standards. These types of material are offensive to some but that doesn't mean that it should be taken away from everyone, if someone doesn't agree with it then they don't have to visit the site. At the same time I still feel that these types of things should still be protected from children under 18.

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