| Even hate speech is free speech. Is it? Really? Many people disagree. Many countries[0] have laws against hate speech. In Canada, for example: > it is a criminal act to "advocate or promote genocide" — to call for, support, encourage or argue for the killing of members of a group based on colour, race, religion, ethnic origin or sexual orientation.[1] "Stirring up or inciting hatred" is also against the law. I have no doubt that The Daily Stormer would be illegal in Canada. Also illegal, under another part of the Criminal Code, is assault; including "nazi punching". Not everyone who thinks websites like this should be shut down support physical violence against those they disagree with. There is no slippery slope here -- shutting down hateful propaganda is not the same as full blown censorship: a provision prevents "people from being charged with a hate crime if their statements are truthful or the expression of a religious opinion."[1] I know that might sound scary to some of you (who gets to decide what is true, or what is a religious belief?), but in Canada, we're lucky enough to have reasonable judges. The system works pretty well -- check out [1] for a few examples, and you can see what you think of the courts decisions. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech [1] http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/when-is-it-hate-speech-7-signi... |