John Daniel Davidson in the Federalist:
Sorry, College Kids, There’s No Such Thing As Hate Speech
Progressive college students seem to think violence is okay as long as it’s silencing ‘hate speech.’ Someone should tell them there’s no such thing.
By hate speech, they mean ideas and opinions that run afoul of progressive pieties. Do you believe abortion is the taking of human life? That’s hate speech. Think transgenderism is a form of mental illness? Hate speech. Concerned about illegal immigration? Believe in the right to bear arms? Support President Donald Trump? All hate speech.
But in fact, there is no “hate speech” exception to the First Amendment. The answer to the question, “Where does free speech stop and hate speech begin?” is this: nowhere.
For the purposes of the First Amendment, there is no difference between free speech and hate speech.
There’s no way to police the speech of haters that does not equally encumber the words of you and me. There’s no one you’d put in charge of regulating your words.
The “Hate Speech = Murder” sign. Given how much latitude they’ll give a murderer if it’s the right murderer, maybe they’re actually claiming that hate speech isn’t really all that bad.
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That girl is carrying a really poorly-drawn swastika.
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They do know the is the excuse that the National Socialist Workers Party used.
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I’ve seen the proper response to the “ban hate speech” argument in several Twitter feeds, so I don’t want anyone to think this is original:
“I will agree to ban hate speech when you agree to let me define what hate speech is.”
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