Should Hate Speech and Hate Sites Be Banned from the Internet?

Should hate speech and hate sites be banned from the Internet? | 1. Introduction Internet can be termed as one of the most revolutionary inventions of the 21st century. However, just like any other thing in the world, it has its positive points and a dark side as well. Some users have made a productive use of this invention while others use it in a harmful manner. One of the most popular and convenient mode of researching nowadays, is to find the relevant information on the internet. But due to the everlasting cruelty in the world, some information on the internet can prove to be harmful for the respective person. It might be some content that gives inappropriate information or try to influence its viewers to go on the wrong path. 2. Overview A website that promotes or uses hate speech against race, community, gender, person, religion, nationality etc is called a hate site. The people who are responsible for putting these things on the internet; not only take use text but graphics, sounds and animations are also used to influence their readers more. It might be used to convince people to join a certain group of people who work against some concepts or people, for e. . ; StormFront. org hosts a hate site against Martin Luther King, Jr who was an American activist and a leader. More House College (2008) states that he is famous for his contributions in the African-American civil right movements. In the above mentioned site, content full of hate is written about the activist and claim that there is a long list of wrong actions done by him. The website terms him â€Å"modern day plastic God†. Such offending content about the man is possible due to the much proposed concept of â€Å"freedom of speech†. This concept focuses on the freedom of writing or saying anything that an individual feels is correct. This verbal freedom also gives the writer the freedom of speech without being accountable for doing it. But what these people fail to understand is that with freedom of speech comes gereat responsibility as well. They have a responsibility to only convey the message which would not offend anyone or harm anyone in life. 3. Ways to Inhibit Hate Sites There are approximately 4 billion web pages on the internet therefore it is very difficult to ensure that no hate content is pated on them. There are different ways in which this problem is handled by different countries. For e. g. Media Awareness Network (2009) states that according to the Canadian Human Rights Act Section 13, any text communicated by any telecommunication means (including internet) that may promote hatred towards a person or any of the following things is prohibited; 1Race 2Nationality 3Religion 4Gender etc Akdeniz et al (2008) stated that the Turkish governments are very sensitive about the hate content regarding their state and officials. They also take action against the hate sites promoting racism and terrorism. Whereas United Kingdom have a relaxed attitude towards racist content but are very alert about any hate content regarding their royalty. 4. Effects of Hate Sites on the Society 4. 1Effect on Children Children of the modern age are also tech-savvy and explore the internet just like adult. Therefore they are liable to exposure to hate sites as much as we are. Children’s minds are like blank papers and form perception of things very easily. They tend to take effect of things more than adults. If they are exposed to such content, a degree of aggression and negativity is induced in their character. This negativity leads to a negative and hopeless attitude about everything in life which hinders in their achievements. The aggression in their characters leads to making them commit crimes when they grow up; thereby making the society unsafe and unproductive. Therefore hate sites should be prohibited to ensure that our youth develop into successful and positive individuals. 4. 2Communal Groups It is a common practice for people to form small groups and communities on the basis of their similar ideas and concepts. The problem arises when they start being vocal about their ideas in an aggressive manner. Such an example is of the Knights Party (2010): The Ku Klux Klan organization in the United States; it is one of the biggest hate group organizations in the country. Their aim is to safeguard the rights and interests of the white American, may it be through violent or aggressive means. Their site is recorded to host content full of hate against the African-Americans, Jews and other minorities. They try to influence people to join them in their aims and also use this medium to promote their aggressive rallies. Such inappropriate sites should be banned from the internet. Fig. 1: KKK during their rally 4. 3Terrorist Organizations Nowadays, terrorist organizations also host sites. They convey their objectives to other people and openly state hate content for their enemies. This might influence the innocent people in the society and influence them to join these organizations thereby increasing terrorism in the society. They might state incorrect facts about their enemies just so that the people get influenced by the information and join their groups. 5. Sites Chosen for Analysis The sites that were analyzed for the hate speech are as follows; http://www. kkk. com/ – The official site of â€Å"The Ku Klux Klan† main site; advertises hate content against the minorities of the society and claims to safeguard their White supremacy at every cost. http://www. martinlutherking. org/ – Content full of hate against Martin Luther King, Jr 6. Conclusion After a comprehensive analysis of the topic under discussion, it can be concluded that hate sites on the internet are liable to cause harm to humanity and the peace and harmony of our societies. Therefore appropriate laws and regulations should be implemented to shut down the sites which ex0pose people to such inappropriate content. It is also the responsibility of the citizens of the society to report such hate sites to the concerned authorities so that we can hope for a safe future on the internet for our youth. References StormFront. org, Matin Luther – A True Historical Examination, [Online] Available at: http://www. artinlutherking. org/ More House College. (2008). Martin Luther King Jr Collection, [Online] Available at:http://www. auctr. edu/mlkcollection/ Media Awareness Network. (2009). Online Hate and Free Speech, [Online] Available at: http://www. media-awareness. ca/english/issues/online_hate/hate_and_free_speech. cfm, Akdeniz. Y, Altiparmak. K. (2008). Internet: Re stricted Access: A Critical Assessment of Internet Content Regulation and Censorship in Turkey, [Online] Available at: http://www. cyber-rights. org The Knights Party, (2010), [Online] Available at: http://www. kkk. com/