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Wednesday, September 13, 2017
The Free Speech-Hate Speech Tradeoff
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Over the past year there has been an ongoing debate about what is free speech and what is hate speech on college campuses. When colleges have created policies to prevent hate speech, the courts have ruled their policies unconstitutional violations of free speech. Universities find themselves caught between the need to protect people's free speech rights and also maintain public safety and a comfortable environment on campus.
Some speech that universities can legally regulate includes incitement, defamation, obscenity, fighting words, or speech that creates a clear and present danger. Keeping in mind the central principle of the first amendment that all ideas and views can be expressed, what can universities do to promote academic freedom, protect students first amendment rights while avoiding hostility that can result from clashing ideas?
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I think that the only type of speech that should be regulated is any speech that directly promotes violence or any speech that is considered bullying or harassment. Free speech does not end when people are offended, so if somebody says something that is "offensive" but does not directly call for violence or does not intentionally degrade anybody then it should be allowed. For example, if somebody says "There's only two genders" and somebody gets offended by that, that does not mean that he/she is not allowed to say that there's only two genders. It seems like this is getting to the point where if anybody expresses a conservative point of view it is considered "hate speech". For example, if somebody openly supports Trump many people end up saying that that is hate speech and use that as an excuse to shut down their voice. This broad interpretation of hate speech seems to lead people to get offended by every little thing that they can possibly find in order to delegitimize conservative opinions which they find "offensive". College is where you are supposed to learn how to succeed in the real world and creating an environment where people are sheltered from opinions that they find "offensive" is only creating a generation of hyperemotional, intolerant individuals. What colleges should really be telling their students is that they need to learn to grow up and accept other people's right to freedom of speech even if they don't like what other people are saying.
Hostility over opposing ideas will always exist. But just because these hostilities exist between these groups, that we should not be able to take away the freedom of speech. If you are inciting and calling for violence that is one thing, but there ARE stories of speakers cancelling their meetups in college campuses in fear of retribution over the other groups. This is usually the case for more conservative speakers. In doing so, the right has no way to voice their opinions leaving only the loud and brash minority. It is this minority that we use to paint the entire right. What I am trying to say is that campuses should not be able to have a speaker cancelled over a difference of thoughts.
I oppose the idea of hate speech laws. The subjectivity of them makes it impossible for colleges or any other institutions to draw a line of what is appropriate. Banning speech based off the premise that it is offensive only on a political level will lead to a downward spiral. Democratic republics are built off the idea that people can voice opposing ideas without physical conflict occurring. Saying that some ideas are "intolerable" is akin to establishing a single-party country.
Another danger of hate speech laws is the threat of them backfiring. While we live in a liberal area, it is important to note that for however many liberals are willing to ban conservative opinions, there is an equal number of conservatives willing to do the same toward left-leaning ideas. This will lead to a new era of political intolerance, dividing America. If you want to ban ideas that you see as racist or sexist, you also have to accept that LGBTQ+ support and socialist ideas will also be banned, just in different areas. This will essentially divide America into a liberal and a conservative half, something that would certainly harm us.
Universities should promote free speech and open discussion on controversial topics instead of banning hate speech, because students need to learn to control their emotions and peacefully and respectfully disagree with other people's opinions. I think there is a common misconception that freedom of speech is equivalent to freedom from consequences of speech. There will always be backlash against hate speech and mixed reactions to any opinion in general. Universities can condemn opinions they disagree with, but free speech and exposure to new ideas help students grow and develop.
Adult college students should be allowed their right to free speech (or whatever sort of speech) they like. It is not the place of schools, or the government to remove this right. Protecting students by limiting speech is a bad trade off; I (and I believe most others) would much prefer the right to say express what we want over the slight possibility of increased safety. However, the other side of the coin is the action associated with this. Any sort of violent action, or anything else that encroaches on other people's life or physical well being should be restricted.
While universities should allow students' their right to free speech, I think there needs to be some guidelines as to what this entails. Although enforcing rules and regulations as to what can be said and what cannot be said can be seen as unconstitutional, there needs to be some sort of standard set in order to protect students and provide for a safe environment. People cannot be denied their right to have an opinion, but when these opinions become hostile and provoke violence, a safeguard of some sort needs to be established. However, dictating what is and what isn't 'hate-speech' may be too subjective and may lead to some biases.
Free speech is a very tough subject to balance. On one hand, allowing people to speak what they want. On the other hand, if authorities try to stop people from speaking about something bad, it is still a violation of the right to free speech. Colleges are a hot zone for huge movements. One thing colleges should do in order to maintain safety while not violating the people's rights is to administer safety forces like the police near rallies and crowds to ensure that no physical violence or harm occurs. Free speech does not include free violence or harm, meaning that gatherings should be disbanded if actual harm occurs. This is only my opinion, and I'm sure there are better options. I do think that all colleges should allow people to gather and talk as long as they have a permit and acceptance from the authorities to do so. Otherwise, it should not happen. People may see this as also infringing free speech, but there must be compromise in order to ensure safety of the people.
Free speech is something we all have rights to and Universities should promote that. Creating an environment where students are protected from violence and hostility is important in ensuring that everyone is safe while voicing their opinions. There’s always going to be some kind of backlash to certain comments, and rather than limiting speech learning how to peacefully confront those situations is a better approach.
I personally think that colleges should try to regulate less things, and try to take a step back from attempting to enforce rules regarding hate speech. The way I see it, college students have been very "protesty" lately and it's not a huge surprise given the increase in hate groups such as neo nazis and white supremacists. instead of university administrations attempting universities to limit speech such as hate speech, in order to create a more safe leaning environment, I think colleges should promote free speech. I think that by limiting a persons speech, especially if it is hate speech, is somewhat of a hypocrisy. This is because in doing so, you are "hating" on people who hate, making them victimize themselves even more, and giving themselves more cause to hate, and therefore I think we should let them be heard. I don't think colleges will get anywhere trying to kill hate, because hate wants you to try and kill it, because that's how it becomes more powerful. I think that when there are rallies and public speeches at colleges, that there should also be appropriate security measures taken. Finally, I think that colleges should promote free speech, while taking necessary measures to make their campuses safe, especially at events where political tensions could be tough.
I think the first most important thing to note is the difference between free speech and hate speech. While there are some regulations aiming to prevent hate speech, it continues to be something universities battle with for some may argue that their verbal expression is protected under the first amendment. Realistically, completely abolishing hate speech is not likely to happen but in order to prevent it, universities can begin by creating awareness throughout campus. Often times, those who participate in hate speech are unaware of the power of their words and their ignorance disables them from understanding why it affects others so heavily. Through educating students and embracing diversity, I believe the problem will definitely be minimized.
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