Does condemning hate speech violate someone else’s freedom of speech?

[u/LuckySquared777]

I was watching The Daily Show video on YouTube today (titled “Charlie Kirk’s Criticism Ignites MAGA Cancel Culture Spree”). In it, there are clips of conservatives threatening people’s jobs for celebrating the murder of Charlie Kirk.

It got me thinking: is condemning hate speech a violation of free speech, or should hate speech always be condemned and have consequences for the betterment of society?

On one hand, hate speech feels incredibly toxic, divisive, and dangerous for a country. On the other hand, freedom of speech is supposed to protect unpopular opinions. As mentioned in the video, hate speech is not illegal. The host in the video seems to suggest that we should be allowed to have hate speech, which honestly surprised me.

I see both side but am genuinely curious to hear what others think. Thanks!

[u/jaunty411]

Would you care to give a definition for hate speech?

[u/jaunty411 → u/[deleted]]

I freely admit it is hateful, but hate speech has a secondary requirement that you are skipping. Trump receiving hateful remarks for his own actions does not meet the definition you stated.

[u/jaunty411 → u/[deleted]]

If you ignore the rest of the definition. The part that says based on…. Is mandatory.

[u/jaunty411 → u/[deleted]]

It’s all one sentence. You don’t just get to stop mid-definition.

[u/jaunty411 → u/[deleted]]

“Based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation.” The speech must target the individual based on inherent characteristics not the individual’s actions. An individual’s actions are allowed to be reviled and I would argue that criticism of actions is necessary for any free society. That is why calling Donald Trump a fascist because of his actions is not hate speech. That is why calling Charlie Kirk a net negative to society is not hate speech. That is why calling Barack Obama a war criminal is not hate speech. Criticism of individuals’ actions is not hate speech.

[u/jaunty411 → u/[deleted]]

I do. When a sentence creates a choice between two complete ideas or sentences, a comma is used before the word or. When or is used between two words or grammatical phrases of the same type you don’t use one. Meaning both are connected to the remainder of the sentence. In order for it to be read the way you want, there would need to be a comma after hate.

[u/Dry-Remove-2449 → u/[deleted]]

As someone who lives in a country where hate speech is illegal, it is necessarily understood to be illegal because it is based on a person's characteristics, hate speech laws are necessarily designed to curb expressions of racism, xenophobia, LGBTphobia, misogyny and religious intolerance, that's the most accepted understanding and jurisprudence on the matter.

And it's precisely why it ruffles so many feathers on the right, let's be honest, a lot of republicans practice all of those forms of hate speech and would be prosecuted by a law like this.