[rubatuga]

It's not actually a slippery slope, but more so that it will inevitably lead to false positives. It's a bit annoying when people misconstrue what hate speech is: inciting extreme hate or encouraging violence. Criticism is definitely allowed. I also agree it's somewhat better to have public discourse, but being fundamentally supporting free speech even when it leads to hate crimes, is a bit myopic.

[tachyonbeam]

I'd respond that dismissing free speech is also dangerous, as it has preceded multiple genocides. IMO, right now we live in a society where we neither have free speech nor the ability to have healthy, open debates needed to defuse dangerous ideas. In the guise of protecting the weak, we're advancing increasingly authoritarian measures. Coming from both the left and the right. See airport security, state surveillance, anti child trafficking laws used to shut down legit websites... And possibly soon anti hate speech laws which will most definitely, inevitably be abused. This isn't a just left wing vs right wing issue. Your rights are being eroded before your eyes.

[rubatuga]

I live in Canada, where we have hate speech laws, and I don't live in the States. My perspective has been that these hate speech laws do not infringe on my rights. I think you might be right in that the potential for abuse is high in the US, I just don't see any evidence of that being the case here (yet).

[tachyonbeam]

I genuinely hope you're right and that such laws won't get in the way of useful dialogue. Though I will point out that Canada doesn't have as much ability as the US to censor internet communications. That limits their ability to abuse such laws.