CR
Favreau
Communication Arts
6 May 2013(due Wednesday, May 22)
Hate Speech Laws and the Internet
While there are many laws and regulations on hate speech that have developed over the years, they often conflict with the First Amendment. There is a very fine line between what is and what is not hate speech and many people are not exactly aware of what hate speech is exactly.
Hate speech is defined in many different ways. People have different definitions of what hate speech is and what it isn’t. Detective Tracey Frost, who is a police officer and detective for Oakland and the school officer for Messalonskee High School, often deals with hate speech in the schools and over the internet. His personal definition of hate speech is as follows, “To really fall into a hate speech category, it’s gotta be speech that specifically targets somebody for something.” He then begins to list things that are targets of hate speech, “Race, gender, I see that a lot actually, much more than racial stuff, poverty level, lack of education, religion...” Also asked was Mr. Frank Brown, who is the Messalonskee’s Gay-Straight Alliance advisor. The Messalonskee GSA deals with bullying and how to stop bullying. The group is mostly focused on stopping hate speech towards the LGTBQ community. He states, “I suppose that it is any kind of speech that is directed at a particular group or even a person who is somehow perceived as different from other people that constitutes a verbal assault against them or insights violence.” While both of these are great definitions of hate speech and do in some way pertain to it, they are not exactly correct and do not cover each individual piece of the definition and how it is broken down. The law definition of hate speech is “ a gesture or conduct [consisting] of written or spoken words that insult and degrade groups identified by race, gender, ethnic group, religion, or sexual orientation.” (Kent and Lee)
Hate speech has been all over the world for thousands of years, and covers everything from extreme crimes involving the Klu Klux Klan, to simpler acts such a bullying or harassing someone in school. Though the more extreme crimes are the ones that are prosecuted by the government, the small acts of hate speech can often grow into larger crimes. For example, in 2010, Tyler Clementi, an 18 year old college freshman, committed suicide after being bullied by his roommate and a few other students for being gay. Found on his roommate’s Twitter account was evidence that Clementi had become a subject of harassment for simply being himself. His roommate then took these small acts to the extreme by recording and live streaming Tyler in an act of intimacy with another man. Harming oneself or committing suicide are often results of severe forms of bullying and hate speech like this one.
Acts like this do not only occur in real time, they also happen frequently on the Internet, where hate speech takes the form of cyber-bullying and hate speech websites. These things are very similar to the “traditional” hate speech that has been happening for thousands of years, but is often more severe.
Cyber-bullying is “the use of the Internet and related technologies to harm other people, in a deliberate, repeated, and hostile manner.” (Wikipedia) Cyber-bullying has increasingly become the cause of emotional problems and suicides, particularly for teenagers. It is also considered harassment, which is illegal on many different levels. (Cyberbullying Bill) For any of these Internet based activities to lead to legal action they must be repetitive(harassment). Also, if the activity turns into physical harm, such as the person committing suicide, legal action can and will be taken. It may also be acted upon if there are threats towards a person or a group that lead to suspicion of the cyber-bully harming them physically, which is considered a “true threat”. “True threats” are
directed at a specific person and are “statements where the speaker means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence...” (Wolf) A “true threat” is not protected under the First Amendment as it violates that laws in the constitution that state that assault, murder, and suicide are illegal. “Blanket” threats, on the other hand, are protected under the First Amendment. A “blanket” threat is one that “[expresses] hatred of an ethnic, racial, or religious group.” These threats and statements cannot be prosecuted because they are considered freedom of speech. Acts like “true threats” and “blanket” threats are where the line between what is protected under the First Amendment and what is not get fuzzy. (Wolf)
Internet hate speech can be taken on by the school that a student goes to depending on the severity of it and what it entails. Cyber-bullying is a new-aged branch off a hate speech that is done by using electronic devices. Cyber-bullying happens most frequently between high-schoolers and college students. Cyber-bullying may be brought to the school’s attention if it creates a problem in the classroom, hallways, or other places in the school, affects the student’s ability to concentrate, and/or is a direct threat to a student or a school official. (Cyberbullying Bill) Many students have been cyber-bullied, in fact, 43% have been bullied and 1 in 4 say it has happened more than once. The more alarming evidence is that 75% have admitted to visiting a website that bullies another student. (Do Something) Cyber-bullying is not the only form of bullying that happens in schools, but students do think that it is easier to get away with. “Old-fashioned” bullying still occurs every day in school and sometimes results in students being afraid to attend school. This type of bullying has occurred for many years and entails one or many of the following: teasing others because of their age, height, weight, clothing, religion, grades, sexual orientation, ethnicity, etc. However, schools can help stop these issues by creating penalties for students who partake in cyber-bullying and hate speech and raising awareness of the topic. Messalonskee High School’s policies on bullying and hate speech are as follows, “Behavior that is intimidating, threatening, harassing or bullying will not be tolerated and violators will be treated seriously. Violators will face consequences issued by the school that will vary from detention to external suspension and a possible meeting with the Superintendent of Schools” Penalties at Messalonskee for this behavior include but are not limited to one to ten days of suspension, one to three office detentions, and in severe cases expulsion. (Messalonskee High School Student Handbook) As for raising awareness goes, Messalonskee’s staff and students often hold assemblies in which how to treat a person and consequences for these acts are discussed. It is events where the whole school is involved and penalties like these that help to prevent and stop all forms of bullying and hate speech. Bullying and hate speech will never fully cease as there will always be someone who wants to voice something mean and ways to get around it, but this does make a dent in the process.
Students and many other people need a place to go or someone to talk to after being a victim of hate speech or bullying/cyber-bullying. Not only can the schools help, but parents can help, too. Parents can do their part by being more aware of what their child is doing on the Internet and limiting what websites they can view or what electronic devices they can have. (Stop Bullying) The student’s school can help prevent bullying or provide a place to go. The guidance counselors can play a huge role in giving the students someone to talk to and providing suicide prevention after or during the bullying, as suicide or harming oneself is a coping method when a student is bullied. Students need to feel like they have someone to go to after being a victim, especially of cyber-bullying, because they often feel like no one will care or that if they report the bully, the bullying will get worse. Schools, students, and parents can bring justice to court cases, as well.
In any case, bullying and hate speech in schools is illegal and should also be dealt with by the schools staff as well as the superintendent of schools. Although, some cases are too severe for just the school to take action, these cases will need to be brought to the law officials attention and dealt with by other consequences. Sometimes schools can be of aid to cyber-bullying cases, but legal action must always be taken in cyber-bullying cases. These cases include threats of violence, child pornography, taking photos or videos of someone when they don’t want it and post them on the Internet, stalking, and other basic hate crimes. If one is a victim of cyber-bullying, they will need to make sure to report the bully, save and print all evidence, and they should also block the cyber-bully from reaching them on the Internet. (Stop Bullying)
Overall, the law needs to crack down on hate speech and all forms of bullying, rather it be in schools or over the Internet. Bullying is an everyday problem for people all over the country, especially teenagers and young adults. There is no reason why a student should be afraid to go to school, feel they have no one to go to, want to commit suicide or self harm, or be ridiculed all because of something another person said or did. Safety is one of the basic needs of life and is an absolute for everyone. Students should be able to focus on school work and not have to worry about who is going to say what about them or worry about if they are going to get beat up that day. As for the Internet and cyber-bullying, there are a lot more forms of cyber-bullying that are protected by the First Amendment and should not be. If hate group actions are illegal in everyday life, then why should they be able to have hate websites? The United States already went through the revolution of legalizing rights for African-American’s and women, but it seems when on the Internet, these things are nonexistent. The United States may as well go back 100 years.
Favreau
Communication Arts
6 May 2013(due Wednesday, May 22)
Hate Speech Laws and the Internet
While there are many laws and regulations on hate speech that have developed over the years, they often conflict with the First Amendment. There is a very fine line between what is and what is not hate speech and many people are not exactly aware of what hate speech is exactly.
Hate speech is defined in many different ways. People have different definitions of what hate speech is and what it isn’t. Detective Tracey Frost, who is a police officer and detective for Oakland and the school officer for Messalonskee High School, often deals with hate speech in the schools and over the internet. His personal definition of hate speech is as follows, “To really fall into a hate speech category, it’s gotta be speech that specifically targets somebody for something.” He then begins to list things that are targets of hate speech, “Race, gender, I see that a lot actually, much more than racial stuff, poverty level, lack of education, religion...” Also asked was Mr. Frank Brown, who is the Messalonskee’s Gay-Straight Alliance advisor. The Messalonskee GSA deals with bullying and how to stop bullying. The group is mostly focused on stopping hate speech towards the LGTBQ community. He states, “I suppose that it is any kind of speech that is directed at a particular group or even a person who is somehow perceived as different from other people that constitutes a verbal assault against them or insights violence.” While both of these are great definitions of hate speech and do in some way pertain to it, they are not exactly correct and do not cover each individual piece of the definition and how it is broken down. The law definition of hate speech is “ a gesture or conduct [consisting] of written or spoken words that insult and degrade groups identified by race, gender, ethnic group, religion, or sexual orientation.” (Kent and Lee)
Hate speech has been all over the world for thousands of years, and covers everything from extreme crimes involving the Klu Klux Klan, to simpler acts such a bullying or harassing someone in school. Though the more extreme crimes are the ones that are prosecuted by the government, the small acts of hate speech can often grow into larger crimes. For example, in 2010, Tyler Clementi, an 18 year old college freshman, committed suicide after being bullied by his roommate and a few other students for being gay. Found on his roommate’s Twitter account was evidence that Clementi had become a subject of harassment for simply being himself. His roommate then took these small acts to the extreme by recording and live streaming Tyler in an act of intimacy with another man. Harming oneself or committing suicide are often results of severe forms of bullying and hate speech like this one.
Acts like this do not only occur in real time, they also happen frequently on the Internet, where hate speech takes the form of cyber-bullying and hate speech websites. These things are very similar to the “traditional” hate speech that has been happening for thousands of years, but is often more severe.
Cyber-bullying is “the use of the Internet and related technologies to harm other people, in a deliberate, repeated, and hostile manner.” (Wikipedia) Cyber-bullying has increasingly become the cause of emotional problems and suicides, particularly for teenagers. It is also considered harassment, which is illegal on many different levels. (Cyberbullying Bill) For any of these Internet based activities to lead to legal action they must be repetitive(harassment). Also, if the activity turns into physical harm, such as the person committing suicide, legal action can and will be taken. It may also be acted upon if there are threats towards a person or a group that lead to suspicion of the cyber-bully harming them physically, which is considered a “true threat”. “True threats” are
directed at a specific person and are “statements where the speaker means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence...” (Wolf) A “true threat” is not protected under the First Amendment as it violates that laws in the constitution that state that assault, murder, and suicide are illegal. “Blanket” threats, on the other hand, are protected under the First Amendment. A “blanket” threat is one that “[expresses] hatred of an ethnic, racial, or religious group.” These threats and statements cannot be prosecuted because they are considered freedom of speech. Acts like “true threats” and “blanket” threats are where the line between what is protected under the First Amendment and what is not get fuzzy. (Wolf)
Internet hate speech can be taken on by the school that a student goes to depending on the severity of it and what it entails. Cyber-bullying is a new-aged branch off a hate speech that is done by using electronic devices. Cyber-bullying happens most frequently between high-schoolers and college students. Cyber-bullying may be brought to the school’s attention if it creates a problem in the classroom, hallways, or other places in the school, affects the student’s ability to concentrate, and/or is a direct threat to a student or a school official. (Cyberbullying Bill) Many students have been cyber-bullied, in fact, 43% have been bullied and 1 in 4 say it has happened more than once. The more alarming evidence is that 75% have admitted to visiting a website that bullies another student. (Do Something) Cyber-bullying is not the only form of bullying that happens in schools, but students do think that it is easier to get away with. “Old-fashioned” bullying still occurs every day in school and sometimes results in students being afraid to attend school. This type of bullying has occurred for many years and entails one or many of the following: teasing others because of their age, height, weight, clothing, religion, grades, sexual orientation, ethnicity, etc. However, schools can help stop these issues by creating penalties for students who partake in cyber-bullying and hate speech and raising awareness of the topic. Messalonskee High School’s policies on bullying and hate speech are as follows, “Behavior that is intimidating, threatening, harassing or bullying will not be tolerated and violators will be treated seriously. Violators will face consequences issued by the school that will vary from detention to external suspension and a possible meeting with the Superintendent of Schools” Penalties at Messalonskee for this behavior include but are not limited to one to ten days of suspension, one to three office detentions, and in severe cases expulsion. (Messalonskee High School Student Handbook) As for raising awareness goes, Messalonskee’s staff and students often hold assemblies in which how to treat a person and consequences for these acts are discussed. It is events where the whole school is involved and penalties like these that help to prevent and stop all forms of bullying and hate speech. Bullying and hate speech will never fully cease as there will always be someone who wants to voice something mean and ways to get around it, but this does make a dent in the process.
Students and many other people need a place to go or someone to talk to after being a victim of hate speech or bullying/cyber-bullying. Not only can the schools help, but parents can help, too. Parents can do their part by being more aware of what their child is doing on the Internet and limiting what websites they can view or what electronic devices they can have. (Stop Bullying) The student’s school can help prevent bullying or provide a place to go. The guidance counselors can play a huge role in giving the students someone to talk to and providing suicide prevention after or during the bullying, as suicide or harming oneself is a coping method when a student is bullied. Students need to feel like they have someone to go to after being a victim, especially of cyber-bullying, because they often feel like no one will care or that if they report the bully, the bullying will get worse. Schools, students, and parents can bring justice to court cases, as well.
In any case, bullying and hate speech in schools is illegal and should also be dealt with by the schools staff as well as the superintendent of schools. Although, some cases are too severe for just the school to take action, these cases will need to be brought to the law officials attention and dealt with by other consequences. Sometimes schools can be of aid to cyber-bullying cases, but legal action must always be taken in cyber-bullying cases. These cases include threats of violence, child pornography, taking photos or videos of someone when they don’t want it and post them on the Internet, stalking, and other basic hate crimes. If one is a victim of cyber-bullying, they will need to make sure to report the bully, save and print all evidence, and they should also block the cyber-bully from reaching them on the Internet. (Stop Bullying)
Overall, the law needs to crack down on hate speech and all forms of bullying, rather it be in schools or over the Internet. Bullying is an everyday problem for people all over the country, especially teenagers and young adults. There is no reason why a student should be afraid to go to school, feel they have no one to go to, want to commit suicide or self harm, or be ridiculed all because of something another person said or did. Safety is one of the basic needs of life and is an absolute for everyone. Students should be able to focus on school work and not have to worry about who is going to say what about them or worry about if they are going to get beat up that day. As for the Internet and cyber-bullying, there are a lot more forms of cyber-bullying that are protected by the First Amendment and should not be. If hate group actions are illegal in everyday life, then why should they be able to have hate websites? The United States already went through the revolution of legalizing rights for African-American’s and women, but it seems when on the Internet, these things are nonexistent. The United States may as well go back 100 years.
Bibliography
6553, 124th Maine State Legislature, 1 (1999) (enacted). Print.
"11 Facts About Cyber Bullying." Do Something. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2013.
Brown, Frank. Personal Interview. 16 May. 2013
"First Amendment." LII. N.p., 19 Aug. 2010. Web. 14 May 2013.
Frost, Tracey. Personal Interview. 15 May. 2013
Hudson, David L., Jr. "First Amendment Center." First Amendment Center. N.p., 13 Sept. 2002.
Web. 22 Apr. 2013.
Middleton, Kent, and William E. Lee. "Chapter 2: The First Amendment." The Law of Public
Communication. 8th ed. Boston: Pearson Education, 2010. 49-52. Print.
Nakamura, Lisa. Race and Identity in Digital Media. Rep. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.
"Prevent Cyberbullying." Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2013.
Wolf, Christopher. "In Curtailing Hate Speech Online, Will Privacy Sometimes Have To Take a
Backseat?" In Curtailing Hate Speech Online, Will Privacy Sometimes Have To Take a Backseat? N.p., 18 Apr. 2013. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.
Wolf, Christopher. "Racists, Bigots, and the Law on the Internet." Web log post. Anti-Defamation
League. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.