Description of Concept of Hate Speech - Essay Example

Hate Speech Hate speech is common in modern society due to increased platforms of interactions and this paper discusses the concept of hate speech. The European committee defines hate speech as all forms expression that would incite, spread, encourage, or justify hatred based on race, xenophobia, anti-Semitism as well as any other form of hatred on grounds of intolerance. There are difficulties in dealing with hate speech due to problems of separating it from free expression of views of people. In addition, victims may not be aware of hate speech in order seek action of law; could retaliate with similar hatred expressions; and there are difficulties in revealing hate speeches in internet social networks. Hate speech has far-reaching impacts on the dignity, sense of security and social status for victims which are the main reasons for developing laws. Examples of hate speech include pictures published in newspapers showing the lynching of an African child and intimate gay men. Both incidences had underlying intimidation on the two groups of people. Introduction Hate speech is a real issue experienced in the society today and there is the need to control it due to the undesirable consequences on the victims. The modern world comprises of wide interactions of people from different backgrounds due to globalization and development of the internet, news media and other social interaction networks. Moreover, there are increased gadgets used by people to interact with others worldwide such as computers and mobile phones. Through these media, people express their freedom of speech provided for in many countries and share their views on issues in life (Weber, 2014). Some views are interesting, well intended and promote peace as well as people’s happiness. However, other views expressed could be undesirable for a group of people or individuals. As a result, these views may trigger harsh responses and action of law. Undesirable views expressed towards an individual or a group of people that could potentially cause harm would be regarded as hated speech. This essay will describe the concept of hate speech and then illustrate it using an example from the news media. Description of concept of hate speech According to Weber (2014) there is no a common definition of hate speech acceptable in all societies and different countries have varying description for the content regarded as hate speech. Nevertheless, almost all countries recognize the presence of hate speech among the residents and have formulated laws to curb the practice. One of the used definitions used was developed by the committee of ministers in Europe. This committee defined hate speech as all forms expression that would incite, spread, encourage, or justify hatred based on race, xenophobia, anti-Semitism as well as any other form of hatred on grounds of intolerance that includes intolerance manifested through aggressive nationalism and ethnically-centered, bias and hostility towards small groups, migrants, or people with immigrant origin (Weber, 2014). This definition is not exhaustive on specific content that constitute hate speech and leaves room for consideration of other expressions as hate speech. However, the description covers views directed towards an individual or specific group of people. The definition is applied in the courts in Europe that also recognize religious intolerance as hate speech. From the European committee definition three aspects are observed about the concept of hate speech. In the first aspect, hate speech would comprise of incitements associated with one’s race that involve all hatred actions directed towards people as well as groups of individuals belonging any race (Weber, 2014). The second aspect concerns the hatred grounded in varied religious practices that would involve the incitements between different religions, or those involving followers and non-followers of the religious groups. Lastly, hate speech would involve other hatred acts that display intolerance based on nationality or ethnic group. These three aspects seem to classify the forms of hate speech with reference to the actions of the court and therefore implies at certain instances incidences of hate speech may fail to be considered as unlawful. This is possible especially due to the freedom of speech and expressions allowed in laws that could make it difficult to distinguish comments of hate speech and normal expression of views without infringing into the people’s rights. From the foregoing, hate speech is recognized in the laws and incidences would attract actions of the court and this requires identification and investigations. The identification of the acts of hate speech may not be easy and as such some incidences may not reach the floor of the court. There are various factors influencing this situation and includes the lack of information among the people who face the hate speech. Some people lack knowledge of their rights as well as the divide of freedom of speech and hate speech and therefore may not seek action of the court on the matter (Turpin-Petrosino, 2015). In addition, the victims of hate speech could retaliate by directing hatred expression and therefore the issue fails to proceed to court procedures. Hate speech may also be uneasily noticed since could be expressed in concealed writings or gestures that literally appear normal. These expressions may not be manifested through the emotions of the doer and hence the victims may fail to ascertain it is hate speech unless they seek court assistance. The growth of communication platforms such as the internet based social networks have made it more difficult to monitor incidences of hate speech due to the personalized nature of accounts used (Turpin-Petrosino, 2015). Some social networks allow conversation between a few people that keep the public unaware and may be used to promote hate speech. In addition, people may hide identities in the social networks making it difficult to trace and prosecute them. Hate speech has far-reaching impacts to the victims that makes it necessary for developing laws against the vice. It is no doubt that hate speech is undesired and distasteful to the victims, though this may not be the main reason for formulating protective laws for the people. Hate speech has deep impacts on the dignity of the victims in the social environment and besides being offensive, it intimidates the victims in their dignity, sense of security and assurance of free lives as they carry out their daily activities (Waldron, 2012). Their social statuses are greatly affected negatively and the entire society loses sense of goodliness for social interactions and promotion of emotional wellbeing for the victims. The laws developed mainly aim at preventing these deep harms on the people and not just protecting people from being offended. Example of hate speech An example of hate speech would be expressed through pictures that show bad or undesired experiences happening to the certain group of people based on race or sexuality. This is demonstrated in the case “Looking at race and sex: When do photographs go too far?” (Patterson & Wilkins, 2014). In this case, pictures were published through the New York Times as well as the Charlotte Observer that were biased towards the black people as well as the homosexuals. In one incident, the editors of the newspapers published a picture showing a lynching of a black American child aged sixteen years of age during the Holocaust period in America. In the second incident, the newspapers published pictures of two gay men who stood in intimate positions and about to kiss. These pictures seem to be expressions of the editors, but had underlying impacts of hate speech. For instance, the picture of the African child being killed would intimidate the African race in America, especially due to the widespread racial bias and hatred directed towards the black Africans since slavery period. Conclusion This paper has explored the concept of hate speech and illustrated it through an example in the news media. The paper discussed that hate speech has no wholly acceptable definition in all societies, but almost all nations recognize and forbid it in the laws. A useful definition is provided by the European committee regarding hate speech as all forms expression that would incite, spread, encourage, or justify hatred based on race, xenophobia, anti-Semitism as well as any other form of hatred on grounds of intolerance. Though recognized by law, hate speech experiences difficulties in separating it from free expression of views of people. In addition, victims may not be aware of hate speech in order seek action of law; could retaliate with similar hatred expressions; and there are difficulties in revealing hate speeches in internet social networks. Hate speech have far reaching impacts on the dignity, sense of security and social status for victims which are the main reasons for developing laws. Examples of hate speech include pictures published in newspapers showing the lynching of an African children and intimate gay men that had underlying intimidation on the two groups of people. References Patterson, P., & Wilkins, L. (2014). Media Ethics: Issues & Cases (7th Edition). Boston: McGraw-Hill Turpin-Petrosino, C. (2015). Understanding Hate Crimes: Acts, Motives, Offenders, Victims, and Justice. New York: Routledge. Waldron, J. (2012). The harm in hate speech. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. Weber, A. (2014). Manual on hate speech. Council of Europe, Publishing Edition. Read More