When Hate Goes Viral

My class is a federal Government class.

One of the common disagreements between civil libertarians and civil rights advocates is over the issue of hate speech. In this assignment, you will get to explore this concept more in depth. The goal here is for you to build a rationale argument using information from the online artifacts (provide below the case study), the outside sources . Be sure to cite any outside sources using either MLA or APA. When using the artifacts be sure to identify which one you are using (i.e., by name). There is no need to cite these using APA or MLA. First, read the case study below.

The case:

You are a U.S. representative in Congress and constituents from your district have approached you about proposing a federal law to ban hate speech on the internet. Hate speech attacks certain individuals or groups on the basis of attributes they cannot change, such as their skin color, national origin, religion, gender or ability. Although hate crimes are illegal, the expression of hateful ideas without violent or harassing actions is protected by the First Amendment. Your constituents believe hate speech itself should be criminalized. They believe that this type of speech is increasing thanks to social media, and that its growing reach makes it more dangerous.

In support of their position, the constituents point to Germany. There, hate speech has been illegal since shortly after World War II. The country also recently passed a law to expand government control over hate speech online. The law requires social media companies such as Facebook to remove “obviously illegal” content, including hate speech, within 24 hours of receiving a complaint or face massive fines. German officials passed the law because they believe that hateful messages spreading online contributed to tension and even violent clashes in their country.

It’s clear that hate speech causes genuine distress for some in your community and that they fear it could feed into the same kinds of conflict and violence seen in Germany. You have seen firsthand the type of inflammatory and even repulsive posts your constituents want to ban, and you agree that they are difficult to stomach. But you also know that banning a particular type of speech should not be taken lightly and would come with many practical challenges.

Individual Respond to the Case

1) What are the dangers of having unlimited speech rights on the internet in the U.S.? What are the dangers of limiting speech rights in the U.S.?
2) Will you sponsor legislation to ban hate speech and control its spread online?
*Before responding please review the 11 artifacts provide in the link below