by Rory Gillies
The right to freedom of speech and expression is protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution in the USA and The European Convention On Human Rights in the UK. What is illegal is the concept of ‘hate speech’. However, the boundaries of hate speech are very blurred, due to opinions and political ideals being vastly different. Hate speech starts when
you are inciting violence against another group. However, although hate speech is illegal in the UK, it can come into conflict with the right to freedom of speech, which is where the problems start to arise.
Under UK law, it is not illegal to say: “I hate (a specific group).” Regardless of whether the statement is abusive or offensive, it is a viewpoint that citizens of the UK and USA are currently entitled to hold due to the right to freedom of speech. It is, however, illegal in the UK to say: “Harm (members of a specific group).” The latter statement is inciting violence, the former is expressing an opinion.
The problem that we are seeing now in the media is that the expression of right-wing views and opinions, in particular, are being condemned as hate speech. The most high-profile example is Milo Yiannopoulos, known for pushing the boundaries of free speech and making very close-to-the-bone comments on a number of subjects ranging from feminism to religion (provocatively referring, for example, to feminism as "cancer"). However, he is always careful not to cross the legal border into hate speech by inciting violence. Yet in 2016, his Twitter account was permanently suspended for "insulting Leslie Jones", a black actress. By taking away his Twitter account, Twitter is effectively becoming political by shutting down a political account that is not actually breaking any laws. Facebook and other social media giants have also been acting as censors in regard to free speech.
This removal of a right wing writer/columnist is not a simple one-off. There has been a whole string of right-wing accounts removed in the past few years, although zero left-wing accounts have been removed from Twitter at the time of writing. Probably most disturbing of all the Twitter suspensions was the suspension of Meghan Murphy in November 2018, for “misgendering a trans woman”, which they argued was hateful conduct. However, many would counter that Ms Murphy has the basic human right to call people whatever she wants to call them as long as it does not incite violence.
Should social media companies be allowed to restrict free speech? I would argue that they shouldn’t. Being rude to someone online is a basic part of freedom of speech, even if the comments are vile; unless it is inciting people to commit acts of violence, it should not be removed, as that is a slippery slope to a crackdown of free speech.
Freedom of speech: “The power or right to express one's opinions without censorship, restraint, or legal penalty.” Oxford English Dictionary
The problem that we are seeing now in the media is that the expression of right-wing views and opinions, in particular, are being condemned as hate speech. The most high-profile example is Milo Yiannopoulos, known for pushing the boundaries of free speech and making very close-to-the-bone comments on a number of subjects ranging from feminism to religion (provocatively referring, for example, to feminism as "cancer"). However, he is always careful not to cross the legal border into hate speech by inciting violence. Yet in 2016, his Twitter account was permanently suspended for "insulting Leslie Jones", a black actress. By taking away his Twitter account, Twitter is effectively becoming political by shutting down a political account that is not actually breaking any laws. Facebook and other social media giants have also been acting as censors in regard to free speech.
This removal of a right wing writer/columnist is not a simple one-off. There has been a whole string of right-wing accounts removed in the past few years, although zero left-wing accounts have been removed from Twitter at the time of writing. Probably most disturbing of all the Twitter suspensions was the suspension of Meghan Murphy in November 2018, for “misgendering a trans woman”, which they argued was hateful conduct. However, many would counter that Ms Murphy has the basic human right to call people whatever she wants to call them as long as it does not incite violence.
Should social media companies be allowed to restrict free speech? I would argue that they shouldn’t. Being rude to someone online is a basic part of freedom of speech, even if the comments are vile; unless it is inciting people to commit acts of violence, it should not be removed, as that is a slippery slope to a crackdown of free speech.
I really like this article. It really shows the damage of the social world to our freedom of speech. The article is very meaningful. It has a good message which the reader can feel throughout.
ReplyDeleteWell done Rory Gilles