Should the incitement of racial hatered be made illegal?

[c0da]

What are all your views on this issue. In Britain, the act that proposed to make inciting racial hatred illegal was not passed and will not be law for a while now. Should this be illegal or should the right to freedom of speech, however distasteful it may be, prevail?

 

[ch'ang]

No matter what the situation I think people should be allowed to say whatever they please. Anything else is the government more power than it needs or deserves.

 

[kevmicsmi]

Absolutely not!

 

[Nehustan]

Actually I have to pull you up on a point of law.

'Incitement to racial hatred' has been an offence since 1965.

It was a similar law which was recently moot in parliament, specifically 'incitement to religious hatred'.

www.cre.gov.uk/downloads/then_now.pdf


Final paragraph page 15.

 

[gnostic]

It is better to speak their minds, than to resort to violence.

It is not the free speech that I have problem with. And it is fine by me that people can protest, because that in itself is freedom of expression.

However, it is the violence that I find totally unacceptable. Talking and violence are two different things.

If a person is angry because they don't like what they hear, then they should simply walk away, calm down and collect their thoughts. Try to understand the other side. If you still can't deal with it, and thinking of doing something violence, then it would be best to stay away from people whose ideals conflict with yours.

 

[JillianMarie77]

Here in America it is perfectly legal to hate and incite hate. Violence and other crimes are a totally different story. I don't like it but to have it any other way would be an infringement on free speech and that is the greater of the two evils.

A better way to stop hate speech and hate in general is education.

 

[Mister Emu]

I don't believe that, within reason, there should be limitations on Free Speech/Free Expression...

Only speech that directly puts a person or persons in a dangerous situation needlessly should be illegal...

 

[shytot]

I would really like to know how you can be educated not to hate,
the more you know about people and their beliefs, the more you realise
there is no sense to any of it, if I say there is no God, people will dislike
me because I am not seeing things their way, and visa-versa.
Education only gives you more reasons to hate, if you are not as educated
as me, I will think you are stupid, and look down on you, and dominate you,
and you will hate me because I know more than you, and can't wait for me
to fall, if your as educated as me, you will be a rival to me and I will hate
you for it, if you know as much about my religion as I do, you will think I
am stupid for not believing in yours, the whole world thrives on hate.

Although you wouldn't think it, all religions use our differences against us.

 

[c0da]

Actually I have to pull you up on a point of law.

'Incitement to racial hatred' has been an offence since 1965.

My bad! I meant religious hatred.

On the issue, I think freedom of speech is very important and people should be able to voice their opinions, but i think there is a limit and a line that can be crossed, and when it is crossed, action must be taken (e.g. Abu Hamza in Britain)

 

[Popeyesays]

If one's "free speech" incites others to riot and violence and there is a victim of that violence then the "free speech" is not free speech, but conspiracy under the law. That makes the motivator of the violence an accessory before AND after the fact. This makes him legally responsible under civil and criminal law.

Regards,
Scott