Re:Sacha Baron Cohen Uses ADL Speech to Tear Apart Mark Zuck...
by slg on Saturday November 23, 2019 @03:11PM
(#21616217)
It is pretty sad if we believe it is a good idea, but don't even try because it isn't "simple".
Re:Sacha Baron Cohen Uses ADL Speech to Tear Apart Mark Zuck...
by iudqnolq on Saturday November 23, 2019 @03:15PM
(#21616245)
It'd also be pretty sad if we apply a simplistic solution to a complex problem and make everything worse.
I wasn't answering the question of if we should try, I was narrowly responding to a single claim that laws restricting hate speech would be easy to write because it would simply be a matter of applying existing laws slightly differently. That isn't the case. Irregardless of what you think of the merits, nothing analogous to a ban on hate speech is currently on the books in the US
An accusation of defamation can be countered by showing the statement is true. And, even still, we significantly weaken our laws against defamation when the person being defamed is a public figure, especially a politician, because the people who wrote US law have been extremely concerned about restrictions on political speech.
Hate speech is not defined in US law, and defining and banning it would not in any way be "simple".