Hate Speech and Freedom of Speech in Australia

Hate Speech and Freedom of Speech in Australia
Author: Katharine Gelber
Publisher: Federation Press
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2007
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9781862876538

Hate speech laws have existed in various forms in Australia for well over a decade. Unlike other countries, such as the United States and Canada, they have not faced constitutional hurdles to their existence. The general acceptance of hate speech laws in Australia opens intellectual space for the exploration of a range of interesting questions regarding the laws' operation, the underlying values they pursue and the context within which hate speech is occurring. How should the regulation of hate speech be balanced against Australia's political and cultural commitment to freedom of speech? Who are the hate speakers and how does their speech manifest? What types of hate speech are targeted by existing laws? How are these laws enforced? How can the laws be changed to improve governments' response to hate speech? How does the emergence of bills of rights affect the regulation of hate speech? Drawing on a broad range of academic and practical experts, this book addresses these questions. The essays in first part of this book outline the landscape within which hate speech regulation occurs. They include consideration of the legal, policy and historical context for vilification, the ways in which the language of hatred is changing, and a new look at the longstanding debate about the tension between freedom of speech and hate speech as a conflict between liberty and equality. In part two, the book considers the practice of hate speech regulation in a variety of Australian institutions and includes practical perspectives from the legal profession. In the final part the essays consider hate speech regulation within a broader human rights framework, taking into account the emergence of bills of rights in Australian states.

Free Speech and Censorship Around the Globe

Free Speech and Censorship Around the Globe
Author: Péter Molnár
Publisher: Central European University Press
Total Pages: 562
Release: 2015-02-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9633860571

This book focuses on regulatory challenges of creating and sustaining freedom of speech and freedom of information two decades after the fall of the Berlin wall, in global, comparative context. Some chapters overview, others address specific issues, or describe country case studies. Instead of trying to provide an exhaustive assessment which in one volume might not reach deeper analyzes of contextual details, this book will shed light on and help better understanding of general challenges for freedom of speech and information through varying comparative examples and highlighting important regulatory questions.

The Content and Context of Hate Speech

The Content and Context of Hate Speech
Author: Michael Herz
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 569
Release: 2012-04-09
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1107375614

The contributors to this volume consider whether it is possible to establish carefully tailored hate speech policies that are cognizant of the varying traditions, histories and values of different countries. Throughout, there is a strong comparative emphasis, with examples (and authors) drawn from around the world. All the authors explore whether or when different cultural and historical settings justify different substantive rules given that such cultural relativism can be used to justify content-based restrictions and so endanger freedom of expression. Essays address the following questions, among others: is hate speech in fact so dangerous or harmful to vulnerable minorities or communities as to justify a lower standard of constitutional protection? What harms and benefits accrue from laws that criminalize hate speech in particular contexts? Are there circumstances in which everyone would agree that hate speech should be criminally punished? What lessons can be learned from international case law?

The Harm in Hate Speech

The Harm in Hate Speech
Author: Jeremy Waldron
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 271
Release: 2012-06-08
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0674069919

Every liberal democracy has laws or codes against hate speech—except the United States. For constitutionalists, regulation of hate speech violates the First Amendment and damages a free society. Against this absolutist view, Jeremy Waldron argues powerfully that hate speech should be regulated as part of our commitment to human dignity and to inclusion and respect for members of vulnerable minorities. Causing offense—by depicting a religious leader as a terrorist in a newspaper cartoon, for example—is not the same as launching a libelous attack on a group’s dignity, according to Waldron, and it lies outside the reach of law. But defamation of a minority group, through hate speech, undermines a public good that can and should be protected: the basic assurance of inclusion in society for all members. A social environment polluted by anti-gay leaflets, Nazi banners, and burning crosses sends an implicit message to the targets of such hatred: your security is uncertain and you can expect to face humiliation and discrimination when you leave your home. Free-speech advocates boast of despising what racists say but defending to the death their right to say it. Waldron finds this emphasis on intellectual resilience misguided and points instead to the threat hate speech poses to the lives, dignity, and reputations of minority members. Finding support for his view among philosophers of the Enlightenment, Waldron asks us to move beyond knee-jerk American exceptionalism in our debates over the serious consequences of hateful speech.

The Oxford Handbook of Freedom of Speech

The Oxford Handbook of Freedom of Speech
Author: Adrienne Stone
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 609
Release: 2021-01-14
Genre: Law
ISBN: 019882758X

The Oxford Handbook on Freedom of Speech provides a critical analysis of the foundations, rationales, and ideas that underpin freedom of speech as a political idea, and as a principle of positive constitutional law.

HATE

HATE
Author: Nadine Strossen
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2018-04-02
Genre: Law
ISBN: 019085913X

The updated paperback edition of HATE dispels misunderstandings plaguing our perennial debates about "hate speech vs. free speech," showing that the First Amendment approach promotes free speech and democracy, equality, and societal harmony. As "hate speech" has no generally accepted definition, we hear many incorrect assumptions that it is either absolutely unprotected or absolutely protected from censorship. Rather, U.S. law allows government to punish hateful or discriminatory speech in specific contexts when it directly causes imminent serious harm. Yet, government may not punish such speech solely because its message is disfavored, disturbing, or vaguely feared to possibly contribute to some future harm. "Hate speech" censorship proponents stress the potential harms such speech might further: discrimination, violence, and psychic injuries. However, there has been little analysis of whether censorship effectively counters the feared injuries. Citing evidence from many countries, this book shows that "hate speech" are at best ineffective and at worst counterproductive. Therefore, prominent social justice advocates worldwide maintain that the best way to resist hate and promote equality is not censorship, but rather, vigorous "counterspeech" and activism.

Countering online hate speech

Countering online hate speech
Author: Gagliardone, Iginio
Publisher: UNESCO Publishing
Total Pages: 73
Release: 2015-06-17
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9231001051

The opportunities afforded by the Internet greatly overshadow the challenges. While not forgetting this, we can nevertheless still address some of the problems that arise. Hate speech online is one such problem. But what exactly is hate speech online, and how can we deal with it effectively? As with freedom of expression, on- or offline, UNESCO defends the position that the free flow of information should always be the norm. Counter-speech is generally preferable to suppression of speech. And any response that limits speech needs to be very carefully weighed to ensure that this remains wholly exceptional, and that legitimate robust debate is not curtailed.

Free Speech After 9/11

Free Speech After 9/11
Author: Katharine Gelber
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 206
Release: 2016
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0198777795

The relationship between counter-terrorism policy in liberal-democratic countries and freedom of speech has never been more prominent than it is today. Since the terrorist attacks of 2001, Western governments have made a distinct and deliberate move towards prevention - as opposed to purely prosecution - of terrorist crimes. However, in doing so, they have reached far into the freedom of speech, and, as Katharine Gelber argues, far further than many commentatorshave recognized. Examining the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, the book traces the significant shift in understandings of the appropriate parameters of freedom ofspeech and speech-practices in the counter-terrorism context, which has been seen both in policy change and in the discursive justification for that change. The book argues that this change has, to some extent, taken different forms in each jurisdiction, which reflect the pre-existing institutions within which the principle of freedom of speech was mediated in each country prior to 9/11.

Free Speech and the State

Free Speech and the State
Author: David van Mill
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 127
Release: 2017-01-23
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 3319516353

This book addresses the question: “What should be the appropriate limits to free speech?” The author claims that it is the state, rather than abstract principles, that must provide the answer. The book defends a version of Hobbesian absolutism and rejects the dominant liberal idea that there is a right (human or civil) setting the boundaries of free speech. This liberal view can be known as the “principled defence of free speech”, in which speech is established as a constitutional principle that has priority over the state. The author instead offers an “unprincipled approach to free speech”, suggesting that the boundaries of speech must necessarily be set by the state, which in liberal democracies means through social and political contestation. The final chapter applies the argument to the topic of hate speech and argues that it is appropriate to limit such speech when it causes harm and offense. The book will be of use to students and scholars across political theory, political science, sociology, philosophy and law.