Why it is impossible and counterintuitive to ban “hate speech”
In 1791, the founders of the U.S. decided to ratify a group of ten amendments to the Constitution that would come to shape the world as we know it.
These would soon become known as the Bill of Rights, and the most important of the amendments would be the first. This amendment reads “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech…”
The founders knew that it was integral to American culture to have a free flow of ideas and thoughts between people, which would ensure the nation would constantly be improving. Those thoughts and ideas, however, would all be rooted in the same principles and respect for each other.
While that was the original idea, we have strayed far from this today. Now, the First Amendment is being used to defend everyone’s right to say anything, even when it is counter to the American cause.
This has resulted in people believing that the protection has extended too far and we need to do something about it. For example, according to WBUR, it is House Bill 3719 from Massachusetts that has been causing a great stir in the nation. This bill has proposed to make using the “b-word” (or another word for female dog) a criminal offense.
“Violators would be subject to a $150 fine for a first offense, $200 for a second offense and six months in prison for subsequent offenses,” according to NBC Boston.
This cannot happen. First and foremost, there is an important groundwork to lay for the conversation regarding hate speech: there is no such thing.
There are many hateful things that an individual can say, and there are many things that will hurt a person, but there is no such thing as hate speech.
Hate speech “sounds like a self-explanatory term, but hate speech is a very complex term that lacks a single universally accepted definition,” and that is its largest problem. What is hateful and harmful to one person may or may not be to the next. In that case, is every person’s version of hate speech subjective?
How is the Supreme Court, or any law making body, supposed to ban an idea that has no real definition?
Another issue that people take with hate speech is that it incites violence. A Washington Post opinion editorial brought up the question, “Speech doesn’t pull the trigger, but does anyone seriously doubt that such hateful speech creates a climate where such acts are more likely?”
This is an absurd remark to make.
The Supreme Court has already ruled in Schneck v. United States that you cannot say things such as yelling fire in a crowded theater, or use other words that incite action. Hate speech does no such thing. Hate speech has to do with the way someone feels, and if saying something to them, without encouraging them to take action, forces them into taking action unprompted, the consequences are in their hands.
Speech is not action. We cannot make laws based on the ways that people feel. They must be grounded in fact.
The same article suggested that the First Amendment is outdated. There was an early presumption that “the marketplace would offer a level playing field. But in the age of social media, that landscape is neither level nor fair.” Now that there is not a level playing field between truth and deception the latter is winning, and this is a problem.
While it is hard to argue that the truth is winning in our society, it is not up to the government to regulate that. The people have a stronger duty than ever before to realize that words are simply words, and sometimes they cannot be taken at face value.
In the era of “fake news,” the media has the job of publishing only what they know to be true, and the people have the responsibility to decipher that information.
We cannot ban hate speech because there is no clear definition, and it would be impossible. We can, however, take on the responsibility of being nicer to one another and not saying things that would hurt each other for no reason.
Hate speech cannot, and most likely will not, be banned in America. However, the bill in Massachusetts is a terrifying first step. If we continue to ban every word that hurts people, the English language itself will diminish.
We need to learn to get over our feelings and treat each other better before we are no longer allowed to say…