Freedom of speech is the concept of the inherent human right to voice one's opinion publicly without fear of censorship or punishment. "Speech" is not limited to public speaking and is generally taken to include other forms of expression.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_o ... by_country

Imo, freedom of speech is the right to say whatever you want whenever you want and wherever you want freely. However people in their own private places have the right to kick you out of their private places if they want to.

Let's be clear.

I believe freedom of speech is not threatening people.

Freedom of speech is not conspiring to do wrong things.

Freedom of speech is not incitement to violence, or coercing people to do violent things.

However lately I've seen some people think freedom of speech should be restricted if it offends them.
Or if it hurts people's ''safety'' or whatever s*** I hear spewed out.
So I've been interested in this topic and I'm interested in you guys opinions on this.



Should Hate Speech laws be removed?



Well..., I don't think hate speech laws should be in place because honestly, it's reaaaallly subjective.

Here's the definition of hate speech, yea wikipedia, f*** off.

In law, hate speech is any speech, gesture or conduct, writing, or display which is forbidden because it may incite violence or prejudicial action against or by a protected individual or group, or because it disparages or intimidates a protected individual or group.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech

Well that means no drawings of the prophet Muhammad piss be upon him.

No violence has been committed, no prejudicial action has occurred and intimidation is subjective as well. I mean unless the guy is right in some dude's face threatening him or something, how the f*** can someone be intimidated by words. It's honestly relied on the possibility that something might happen. As if some dude getting incredibly angry and shooting up a place because some dude said something he didn't like is the fault of the guy who said something he didn't like.
Why can't we just punish the people who commit violence. Why can't we just punish the people who discriminate.

Insulting groups of people who deserve insult could now possibly land you in jail.

Insulting groups of people for fun could also land you in jail.

It's in this day in age that we place so much power in words. Words almost always mean nothing probably 10 minutes after they're said, but someone's life ends up changed because they said this or they said that. Almost anyone can say this hurt my feelings or whatever or slap the label hate speech on anything they don't like, It's really not that hard.

Words are just words, it is people that react to them that's the problem. We have to look at the people not the words.
Freedom of speech is not freedom of speech with restrictions.

That's just my opinion on this.

what about slander? should slander or lies be considered free speech? should ruining someone's career over a false allegation be considered free speech? free speech doesn't particularly mean true freedom of speech, just to voice your opinion and not be jailed for it
information is not the same as opinions

It actively ruins people's lives and endangers them. It is actively trying to ruin someone's well being and security so no, slander is not free speech.

you just did a 180 and changed your opinion lmao
you said free speech should not be restricted but now it should be when it actively endangers lives?

please stop crying because your mom won't let you say "n*****"

But slander is not free speech though, it's slander.



I can say cracker though, so that's fine.

You are underestimating the power that words have, I think.

you act like words are just arranged letters but do remember that they carry a certain load and/or interpretations. If someone is constantly using hateful slang to refer towards your group it can lead to feelings of being disenfranchised and threatened.

It's important to realise that what you say and do might offend others. I'm not saying this means we can no longer make jokes about anything (especially since comedy is a powerful medium to discuss problems with etc.) but it's just something to keep in the back of your head and occassionally talk with people about.

ALSO




According to your definition (from the OP) freedom of speech is the right to say whatever you want wherever. This woudn't exclude hatespeeches, slanders and intentionally spreading misinformation since all of those actions can be described as 'just saying what you want'.

Freedom of speech is a beautiful thing, but in my opion should be handled carefully. It should never be a platform that can be (ab)used to spread hate and unfounded racism. Freedom of speech is, to me, moreso about having the ability to raise political, cultural and social concerns without fearing prosecution.

Look no one has to care about others feelings, you should not be punished for offending groups of people.

It completely defeats the point of freedom of speech.
You cannot speak for groups of people and say that this is what they feel like, when they possibly don't.

I doubt anyone would feel threatened because someone says that n***** or ugly or something, it's this type of bs word play that pisses me off.

Oh ''disenfranchised'' and ''threatened'' oh f***.

EDT:


Let me correct myself and say it's the freedom to say whatever you want, wherever you want freely as long as it isn't trying to actively ruin someone's lively hood and safety DIRECTLY.

The freedom to speak your voice is also the freedom to say racist things and to mock racist things. So many times and times again will people point and say that's racist or whatever. Honestly it's subjective again, and you should not be punished because you said something that people are offended by, this includes racist words. I will defend a racist's right to freedom of speech just as much as anyone else.

Steven why have you chosen that definition for yourself?

Were all in this together Tsu, the least you can do is at least try to care about others. If you are intentionally trying to hurt groups of people and want to avoid consequences by mentioning "Yeah but I have freedom of speech..!" then I think you greatly misinterpret why we got freedom of speech in the first place.

Like I relayed in my earlier edit, it is moreso about having the ability to raise concerns without fearing legal or social prosecutions. But you can do this in a mature way. You should, I'd say. To me this means that you avoid intentionally hurting people or groups of people. If you have concerns about a certain group you're allowed to raise concerns if they are grounded but you can only really get a better picture if you communicate with said groups. I will agree that there are people, especially these days, that are, in my opinion, a little too quickly offended by comments that aren't intentionally ment to offend but that's a different discussion I like to think.

if you simply say "Oh man I hate catholics because they are all retarded. But it's okay I can say that because I have this little thing called freedom of speech, right!" then you are intentionally hurting a group and trying to avoid consequences by crying about something you don't seem to understand very well.

long story short: just be a nice person and drop the edgy "I don't need to care about the feelings of others" teenager act. If you have problems with a people then try communicating like an adult, not slinging s*** comments at them and then cry when they bite back on account of 'freedom of speech'.

Again, no one has to care about other people's feelings. My feelings get hurt all the time, that doesn't mean some dude should be thrown in jail because of a word he said that wont effect me 2 minutes from now.

i see where you're coming from but if you seriously dont watch what you say because "hurr durr freedom of speech" then you dont deserve to have freedom of speech

or, at least, everything you say should be taken less seriously because you cant be trusted to be mature about it

Again, there is a difference between intentionally offending someone and unintentionally offending someone, first of all.

There is also a clear difference between someone saying "Hey man you are dumb." and "I think all Muslims are terrorists." Someone calling you names is not the same as hate speech, although calling certain names can be considered offensive due to the load said words carry. You might not feel this way because you are not part of this group, which makes your perspective different. Furthermore, people are different; some are more affected by words than others, so there is that too.

Like I said earlier this doesn't mean you have to walk on your toes for the rest of your life, but you could be a little more considerate when it comes to what you say. Wether you actually do so or not remains up to you. Just because your feelings aren't hurt doesn't mean it's the standard.

Please elaborate, are you for the authoritarian practice of punishing people because they said n***** are cave people instead of white people are cave people?

See how this is extremely subjective?

EDIT:



Uumm, no I don't have to cater to people's feelings. See how this works? It's not mandatory to care about people's feelings.

It's freedom of speech to ridicule people because you want to.

And you guys are free to call people who ridicule and offend assholes, because they are.

I'd normally say "I'm genuinely curious about what made you make this topic" but

Judging by your recent posts (specifically in forum games) you're intentionally trying to get banned so you can cry about it

See:

Fine, I'll even it out by saying Cracker now.

There, now can you post something actually worthwhile or no?

Also, anyone can psycho-analyze like you just did watch.

You must be replying to me because you want to express your undying gay love for me but you just don't know how.

see