IOL to get “hate speech comments” panel

A great move. I vigorously support freedom of speech but am also highly concerned by some of the racist remarks that manage to gain unwarranted prominence by attaching themselves to the end of great articles
 
entrepr said:
A great move. I vigorously support freedom of speech but am also highly concerned by some of the racist remarks that manage to gain unwarranted prominence by attaching themselves to the end of great articles
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It will be interesting to see the "guidelines" that the committee recommends. Could possibly use it here to ensure consistency.
 
Still think hate speech rules and laws are BS. You don't become a racist because you read a racist comment. Bigots only highlight their own stupidity by opening their mouths.
 
This looks like a move from the media to defend themselves and move the blame onto the people who posted the comments.

The original article that Kine posted was racist in the extreme, to the point that it attracted the condemnation of other black journalists. The reason that IOL posted it had to be as troll bait - either that or the editorial staff is really dumb.

Any reasonable panel should be looking at IOL and the Cape Argus rather that the people that they deliberately provoked.
 
entrepr said:
A great move. I vigorously support freedom of speech but am also highly concerned by some of the racist remarks that manage to gain unwarranted prominence by attaching themselves to the end of great articles
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So you don't really support freedom of speech.
 
garyc said:
This looks like a move from the media to defend themselves and move the blame onto the people who posted the comments.

The original article that Kine posted was racist in the extreme, to the point that it attracted the condemnation of other black journalists. The reason that IOL posted it had to be as troll bait - either that or the editorial staff is really dumb.

Any reasonable panel should be looking at IOL and the Cape Argus rather that the people that they deliberately provoked.
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They don't need to look at anything. If someone wants to write a racist article or racist comments and there is a venue to publish them then they're entitled to do so. If someone else disagrees they get the opportunity to respond. That's freedom of speech. Hate speech laws, panels or whatever are really just censorship. They're supported by people who want to pretend they support freedom of speech.
 
noxibox said:
So you don't really support freedom of speech.
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There's a difference between freedom of speech and hate speech. The problem is to beware of limiting a person's right of expression through policies. So you need to find the middle ground - a policy that tolerates freedom of speech yet does not tolerate hate speech.
 
noxibox said:
They don't need to look at anything. If someone wants to write a racist article or racist comments and there is a venue to publish them then they're entitled to do so. If someone else disagrees they get the opportunity to respond. That's freedom of speech. Hate speech laws, panels or whatever are really just censorship. They're supported by people who want to pretend they support freedom of speech.
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Article 20: http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx
 
crap my browser crashed and the split went side ways. Will repair in a bit
 
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MickeyD said:
There's a difference between freedom of speech and hate speech. The problem is to beware of limiting a person's right of expression through policies. So you need to find the middle ground - a policy that tolerates freedom of speech yet does not tolerate hate speech.
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Well, if you can't hate, it isn't really freedom, is it? While it is "practical and civilized" to censure hate speech, especially on a website that has commercial interests, we shouldn't be under any illusion that doing so conserves the concept of freedom of speech. It doesn't.

Everyone deserves to get offended by what others say. No-one should be immune. Far worse things can happen to you. And you always have the choice to ignore it. How you react to some offensive comment usually says far more about you than the person who posted it. Censorship, ultimately, gives undeserved weight to whatever is censored.
 
Gatecrasher said:
Well, if you can't hate, it isn't really freedom, is it? While it is "practical and civilized" to censure hate speech, especially on a website that has commercial interests, we shouldn't be under any illusion that doing so conserves the concept of freedom of speech. It doesn't.

Everyone deserves to get offended by what others say. No-one should be immune. Far worse things can happen to you. And you always have the choice to ignore it. How you react to some offensive comment usually says far more about you than the person who posted it. Censorship, ultimately, gives undeserved weight to whatever is censored.
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In theory I agree with you but in reality there is no such thing as absolute freedom of speech. Have a gander at the link I posted above... South Africa and most countries are a signatories.
 
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