FOUR OBSERVATIONS ABOUT HATE SPEECH

The controversies pitting free speech against equality raise a number of questions. The authors have reviewed some of the main features of the debate over the regulation of hate speech and added four observations that are relatively new and go beyond their existing corpus. Two of these concern the structure of the debate, while two others have to do with the calculus by which the two sides assess each other's positions. In particular, they have pointed out how the debate proceeds between two camps of the progressive left at a time when conservative forces have been making inroads into both civil rights and civil liberties. They urge both camps, the defenders of the minority position and the proponents of free-speech absolutism, to resolve their argument and direct their energies toward their common adversary, the political right. They also noted how the free-speech side often uses a particular rhetorical ploy that consists of shifting the argument for their position from substance to procedure.