Should Hate Speech and Hate Sites Be Banned from the Internet?
Should hate speech and hate sites be banned from the Internet? |
1. Introduction
Internet can be termed as one of the most revolutionary inventions of the 21st century. However, just like any other thing in the world, it has its positive points and a dark side as well. Some users have made a productive use of this invention while others use it in a harmful manner. One of the most popular and convenient mode of researching nowadays, is to find the relevant information on the internet. But due to the everlasting cruelty in the world, some information on the internet can prove to be harmful for the respective person. It might be some content that gives inappropriate information or try to influence its viewers to go on the wrong path.
2. Overview
A website that promotes or uses hate speech against race, community, gender, person, religion, nationality etc is called a hate site. The people who are responsible for putting these things on the internet; not only take use text but graphics, sounds and animations are also used to influence their readers more. It might be used to convince people to join a certain group of people who work against some concepts or people, for e.g.; StormFront.org hosts a hate site against Martin Luther King, Jr who was an American activist and a leader. More House College (2008) states that he is famous for his contributions in the African-American civil right movements. In the above mentioned site, content full of hate is written about the activist and claim that there is a long list of wrong actions done by him. The website terms him “modern day plastic God”. Such offending content about the man is possible due to the much proposed concept of “freedom of speech”. This concept focuses on the freedom of writing or saying anything that an individual feels is correct. This verbal freedom also gives the writer the freedom of speech without being accountable for doing it. But what these people fail to understand is that with freedom of
1. Introduction
Internet can be termed as one of the most revolutionary inventions of the 21st century. However, just like any other thing in the world, it has its positive points and a dark side as well. Some users have made a productive use of this invention while others use it in a harmful manner. One of the most popular and convenient mode of researching nowadays, is to find the relevant information on the internet. But due to the everlasting cruelty in the world, some information on the internet can prove to be harmful for the respective person. It might be some content that gives inappropriate information or try to influence its viewers to go on the wrong path.
2. Overview
A website that promotes or uses hate speech against race, community, gender, person, religion, nationality etc is called a hate site. The people who are responsible for putting these things on the internet; not only take use text but graphics, sounds and animations are also used to influence their readers more. It might be used to convince people to join a certain group of people who work against some concepts or people, for e.g.; StormFront.org hosts a hate site against Martin Luther King, Jr who was an American activist and a leader. More House College (2008) states that he is famous for his contributions in the African-American civil right movements. In the above mentioned site, content full of hate is written about the activist and claim that there is a long list of wrong actions done by him. The website terms him “modern day plastic God”. Such offending content about the man is possible due to the much proposed concept of “freedom of speech”. This concept focuses on the freedom of writing or saying anything that an individual feels is correct. This verbal freedom also gives the writer the freedom of speech without being accountable for doing it. But what these people fail to understand is that with freedom of
References: StormFront.org, Matin Luther – A True Historical Examination, [Online] Available at: http://www.martinlutherking.org/ More House College. (2008). Martin Luther King Jr Collection, [Online] Available at:http://www.auctr.edu/mlkcollection/ Media Awareness Network. (2009). Online Hate and Free Speech, [Online] Available at: http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/online_hate/hate_and_free_speech.cfm, Akdeniz. Y, Altiparmak. K. (2008). Internet: Restricted Access: A Critical Assessment of Internet Content Regulation and Censorship in Turkey, [Online] Available at: http://www.cyber-rights.org The Knights Party, (2010), [Online] Available at: http://www.kkk.com/