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Hate groups and the freedom of speech

Introduction

In this modern era of technological advancements and developments, the ways of communication between the people of different cultures and different regions have increased significantly. Despite of the fact that this has increased the socialization, many negative effects have been observed of this development. People from different cultures, possessing different mind frames and ideas and from different cultures meet on the internet virtually and discuss their ideas about the most debated issues. Freedom of speech is a term which shows its involvement here. The main issue is the fact that the core concept of freedom of speech has been forgotten and now it is widely used as a tool by extremists and hate groups to offend their opponents. This issue has been widely and much debated and certain ethnic groups have been targeted time and again by this. Many have categorized this as hate speech instead of freedom of speech and rightly so (Landrum, 1996).

Freedom of speech and hate speech

Freedom of speech is a political right of every individual living in nay society anywhere in the world. Expressing one's opinions and ideas requires a particular medium and internet and media has been the most common and easily adoptable channel for freedom of speech. The article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights announces freedom of speech as the basic right of every individual (Barrett, 1999). This right is also listed in the international human rights law in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). According to article 19 of ICCPR, it has been clearly mentioned that without any interference it is every one's rights to hold his/her opinions and everyone has the right to express his or her ideas publically. Apart from just expressing one's thoughts, the responsibilities and the rules that one should follow while freedom of speech are also mentioned in the article 19 and the restrictions are also mentioned. Mainly, the moral and the intention of the ideas being expressed are very important. The ideas should be expressed rather than imposed on the public (Dayton Daily News, 1993).

In law, hate speech is any speech, gesture or conduct, writing or representation that is prohibited because it may incite violence or discriminatory action against a group of people or because it offends or intimidates a group of citizens. The law may typify the characteristics that are likely to lead to discrimination, such as race, gender, national origin, nationality, sexual orientation or other characteristic (New Voice of New York, Inc, 2000). There is international consensus on the fact that hate speech should be banned by law, and that such bans do not hurt the principle of freedom of expression. The United States is one of the few countries in the developed world that does not consider the prohibition of hate speech is compatible with freedom of expression (Barrett, 1999).

The right to freedom of speech and expression

The early documents of human rights are full of ...