mercoledì 9 settembre 2015

Rethinking the Context of Hate Speech (Book Review: Michael Herz & Peter Molnar, The Content and Context of Hate Speech: Regulation and Responses (Cambridge University Press 2012))


Robert A. Kahn 


University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota)

2015

First Amendment Law Review, 2015, Forthcoming
U of St. Thomas (Minnesota) Legal Studies Research Paper No. 15-20 

Abstract:      
Can hate speech regulation become fun again? Current hate speech regulation often devolves into a sterile debate between libertarian Americans and censorious Europeans over whose approach to hate speech is better. A series of cutting edge essays by Michael Herz and Peter Molnar’s 2012 volume (eds.) The Content and Context of Hate Speech: Rethinking Regulation and Responses (Cambridge University Press 2012) points the way forward. It does this by challenging the commonly held premise that the United States does not punish hate speech. Instead, as many of the authors show, the United States does punish such speech – only it does so outside the formal legal system through “social sanctions” such as public condemnation of hate speakers and public based shunning. The nuanced approach to hate speech regulation will only become more important as the debate over hate speech shifts to the world of social media. At the same time, the book as a whole suggests an emerging global consensus around the idea that hateful speech can be punished if it incites violence. While the jury is still out on the extent, necessity and feasibility of this emerging consensus, the Herz and Molnar volume gives us the tools to explore these important issues.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 25

Keywords: freedom of speech, hate speech, comparative law, convergence vs. exceptionalism, informal sanctions, American and social media

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