In his January 6 speech in Washington DC, Donald Trump urged his supporters to force their way onto Capitol Hill, is a perfect compendium of his inflammatory populist rhetoric.
Millions of supporters of Donald Trump flocked to the far-right social media platform, where hate speech and calls for violence thrive. The US Capitol insurrection could be the platform’s undoing.
Twitter pile-ons, online celebrity bashing, or knee-jerk reactions are part of an increasingly toxic environment children are being exposed to that risks normalising hate.
My research shows that when politicians use hate speech, it’s not just empty rhetoric or political theater: Domestic terrorism increases, in the US and in other countries.
Academic freedom protects free speech, but also conditions it. Knowledge cannot be tested and doesn’t advance if there isn’t also a duty to be well informed and reasoned.
As a branch of government, the courts must naturally be accountable for the exercise of their power. The means of achieving their accountability must be balanced against their necessary independence.
We should celebrate the ‘deplatforming’ of the 8chan message board, linked to the El Paso shootings, as a win for the fight against online hate speech. But its removal does not mean the fight is over.
There are calls to ban the far-right former Breitbart editor from Australia. He’s due to speak at the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference.
While the “Christchurch Call” summit has made concrete progress, we need to keep up the pressure on social media companies to become more transparent and accountable.
As countries are calling for laws to control extremism online, it is becoming clear that defining the line between hate speech and free speech is a complex challenge.
Assistant Professor, Educational Technology, Chair in Educational Leadership in the Innovative Pedagogical Practices in Digital Contexts - National Bank, Université Laval
Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, and Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University