"Hate" Speech
…for weaker and weaker definitions of "hate", notes Eugene Volokh.
From a UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center study titled Hate Speech on Commercial Talk Radio:
Types of Hate Speech
We identified four types of speech that, through negative statements, create a climate of hate and prejudice: (1) false facts [including "simple falsehoods, exaggerated statements, or decontextualized facts [that] rendered the statements misleading"], (2) flawed argumentation, (3) divisive language, and (4) dehumanizing metaphors (table 1).
What a definition!
The example they give should give you pause. If "exaggerated statements" will get you thrown in jail, we’ll all be either imprisoned or silenced.
And note that this particular study only looked at "Commercial Talk Radio". Obama may have come out against the "Fairness Doctrine", but if we get a back-door version of that, this may be how it happens.
Filed under: Doug • Liberal • Media
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Fortunately, the law is not written in such a loose manner – and never would be. Liberals and conservatives alike would never support such sloppy legislation.
Never? I don’t know about that. When guys like Ezra Levant are getting hauled before Human Rights Commissions in Canada for publishing editorial cartoons critical of Islam, with potential monetary and legal ramifications, it sounds like our near neighbors may have already fallen into that hole. If not for high-profile cases like Mark Steyn’s as well, and the public outcry over these cases, a dangerous precedent could have been set.
Worse, these Human Rights Commissions have their own sets of standards, not necessarily ones that have been voted on. So whether or not there is sloppy legislation behind it may not be the issue.