Hate Speech and Free Speech: Examining the Facts

A resource for understanding the legal, ethical, political, and social dimensions of today's debates about hate speech, free speech, and their impact on American society. All across America arguments are raging over the spread of hate speech, constitutional limitations on free speech, intellectual freedom, and government censorship. These clashes are playing out in living rooms, courtrooms, and legislative chambers in every state in the union and they pose important questions about the future societal and political health of the USA. Where does free speech end and hate speech begin? Which laws and court decisions and corporate policies of social media platforms hold sway in this era of cultural turbulence, legal warfare, online provocateurs, and bitter partisanship? What legal rights and protections do victims of hate speech have when perpetrators claim immunity on free speech grounds? How have universities and other academic institutions responded to Trump administration demands and threats regarding campus free speech policies? This book provides authoritative, fact-based answers to these questions and dozens of others about one of the most contentious and high-stakes cultural, legal, and political issues of our time.