I saw this week's topic and I had to pause.
HATE SPEECH. This is a very heavy one.
Because I grew up hearing "You have freedom of speech." But nobody ever told me where that freedom stops.
Last year, in my street in Onitsha ,two boys almost killed each other because of Facebook comment. One boy from one tribe wrote something very bad about the other tribe. He said "all of you are criminals." It was just a comment. He thought it was cruise. He thought it was free speech.
But the other boy saw it, and carried his friends and went to his house. That small comment turned to real fight. Real blood.
So I asked myself, if no one was harmed when he typed it, was it still harmless?
My honest take is this:
Free speech should protect your right to say "I don't like the government." "I don't like this religion." "I don't agree with you." That is democracy.
But free speech should not protect you when you say "These people should be killed" or "These people are not human." That is not an opinion anymore. That is a weapon.
People normally say that......."words don't harm anyone.." That's a very big lie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. yeah! Words are the first step before harm happens. Hitler did not start with gas. He started with words. Hate speech is how you train people's mind to accept violence later.
So should hate speech be criminal?
I will say YES, but with careful law.
Not every insult should be jail. If we do that, police will use it to arrest anybody they don't like. I am Nigerian, I know how law can be abused.
The law should focus on 3 things:
- Is it calling for violence?
- Is it targeting a whole group of people for who they are?
- Is there a clear intention to cause fear?
If yes to all three, then it is not free speech. It is hate speech. And it should be punished. Not necessarily long prison, but community service, heavy fine, public apology. Let people learn.
If we protect hate speech as free speech, what precedent are we setting? We are telling our children that you can hate loudly, as long as you don't punch yet. We are raising a generation that thinks being cruel online is normal.
I believe in free speech die. I am using it noooooow to write this post..
But freedom without responsibility is just chaos....JSYK.
Your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins............👍💯💯💯👍👍💯💯💯 And hate speech is a fist made of words.
What do you think? Where do you draw your own line??....... let's discuss in the comment 👇 👇
This is my entry for Hive Learners Weekly Featured Content Week 235 Episode 03 - HATE SPEECH
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