Reporting hate speech

username123

Im not really sure where to ask this so I thought Id try here - mods feel free to move it if it should be elsewhere.

Just to be clear - I am not talking about boards.ie here.

There is another message forum I tend to browse and occasionally post on and recently a poster was horribly homophobic and went so far as to say that gay people are deviants.

Its been bothering me since tbh. I realise that it is this persons opinion but do we not have some kind of laws governing hate speech? Can people just post stuff like that on a public forum?

srsly78

What you quoted wasn't hate speech. Deviancy means anything that is different from the norm, it's a statement of fact for any minority behaviour.

username123

srsly78 wrote: »

What you quoted wasn't hate speech. Deviancy means anything that is different from the norm, it's a statement of fact for any minority behaviour.

Ive given limited information so that people cant just google the words and find the website and thread but there was more - that was just the sort of last straw of it.

srsly78

I think the law is about incitement to hatred/violence, did the person advocate violence towards gays? Just saying "mean things" may not actually be a criminal offense.

While it's not on, I don't think going the way of arresting everyone who posts a horrible facebook status is the way forward either. Many (most?) forums have their own rules about this kind of speech and the user is usually disciplined there. If they won't deal with it, maybe stop using their forum after making your complaints known to them. If they don't stop, the diminishing user base will be enough of a hint. And if there isn't a diminishing user base and nobody cares, you probably don't want to be hanging around with them either.

username123

Yeah, I suppose when I asked about laws, I more meant, should the content not be removed - as opposed to the person be arrested!

Was it just mean things? In some ways, yes. In other ways it was quite disturbing. It wasnt someone advocating violence.

The posts said a lot more about the individual posting that they did about anything else!! I did report it to the mod of that website - but nothing done.

Merkin

Did you contact the mods to say you found it objectionable? I think that's probably the best thing you could do as people have freedom of speech and I think unless people can be proven to incite hatred or violence then very little can be done. Shame in some ways when so many vicious cowards hide behind their Twitter or other online persona to hurl abuse at people....grrrr

username123

Merkin wrote: »

Did you contact the mods to say you found it objectionable?

I did, but there was no visible action, and the content remained.

I so wholeheartedly agree with you re people using an online persona to hurl abuse, I think we need to get more zero tolerance on that kind of bigoted online muppetry.

ashers22

I think the only way of dealing with these kind of people is by educating them or helping expand their experience by confronting the issue.
I remember having a similar discussion years ago with someone face to face and as it happens I was the one stating the deviant claim (when asked if I was gay.) I was raised in a very closed environment and the thought of being gay was so horribly wrong that even from a young age, if I experienced any feelings or came even remotely closr to considering a same sex attraction, I would tell myself how wrong it was and to cop myself on. (in fact all sex was bad)
By the time I reached the age where I could have that discussion I had a deeply ingrained opinion and would vehmenantly stand by it. The person I divulged this information to changed my life however. It's always good to talk.


ps, as a result I'm rarely offended by homophobia, I understand its mostly just ignorance based and despite the lip service many people might pay homosexuality they nearly always have some internalised underlying personal rationalisation for it.

Merkin

username123 wrote: »

I did, but there was no visible action, and the content remained.

I so wholeheartedly agree with you re people using an online persona to hurl abuse, I think we need to get more zero tolerance on that kind of bigoted online muppetry.

There's an insidious nastiness too and I find it actually quite upsetting tbh. I'm a fan of Joan Rivers on Facebook (love her!:)) and she posted a fairly lame joke recently, wasn't one of her better ones. A torrent of abuse then ensued with one poster writing, "Didn't your husband commit suicide? No surprise why..." The fact of the matter is he did commit suicide some years ago and to hurl such venom at someone about something so deeply personal and traumatic is just horrific. I know people say that people in the public eye are leaving themselves open to fans and to those who will abuse but that's taking things too far in my opinion, I was astounded by such unwarranted hatred.

Lucyfur

Merkin wrote: »

There's an insidious nastiness too and I find it actually quite upsetting tbh. I'm a fan of Joan Rivers on Facebook (love her!:)) and she posted a fairly lame joke recently, wasn't one of her better ones. A torrent of abuse then ensued with one poster writing, "Didn't your husband commit suicide? No surprise why..." The fact of the matter is he did commit suicide some years ago and to hurl such venom at someone about something so deeply personal and traumatic is just horrific. I know people say that people in the public eye are leaving themselves open to fans and to those who will abuse but that's taking things too far in my opinion, I was astounded by such unwarranted hatred.

This is the kind of thing that boils my blood. Who thinks they have the right to say something like that.

I could go on and on but I won't as if I did, I'd be as bad as them.

Merkin

Me too, it infuriates me. I think the anonimity of being online gives these trolls the artistic license to say whatever they like behind the security of their laptops. It's essentially a more modern form of sending a poison pen note - just as menacing and unpleasant.

username123

Merkin wrote: »

Me too, it infuriates me. I think the anonimity of being online gives these trolls the artistic license to say whatever they like behind the security of their laptops. It's essentially a more modern form of sending a poison pen note - just as menacing and unpleasant.

Yeah, it is a form of poison pen note.

Online nastiness is massively cowardly.

ashers22

I forgot to add the obligatory 'I'm gay' in my post. I don't know if it makes more sense by the admittance of my non love for willies though.

I think there are a lack of decent role models in many online environments in general, I feel for many of the kids out there who have to endure it (hate speech of any form) in silence or alone.

CaraMay

username123 wrote: »

Online nastiness is massively cowardly.

It is especially when its hidden behind perceived fundamental beliefs.

Annasopra

The Council of Europe will be running a campaign on hate speech over the next year or two

http://act4hre.coe.int/eng/The-Campaign

LeeHoffmann

do we not have some kind of laws governing hate speech?

Hate speech defined:
Hate speech is communication that vilifies a person or a group on the basis of one or more characteristics. Examples include but are not limited to: color, disability, ethnicity, gender, nationality, race, religion, and sexual orientation.
...any speech, gesture or conduct, writing, or display which is forbidden because it may incite violence or prejudicial action against or by a protected individual or group, or because it disparages or intimidates a protected individual or group.

Legality:
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) states that "any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law".

In Ireland, the right to free speech is guaranteed under the Constitution (Article 40.6.1.i), however, this is only an implied right provided that liberty of expression "shall not be used to undermine public order or morality or the authority of the State".[26] The Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989, proscribes words or behaviours which are "threatening, abusive or insulting and are intended or, having regard to all the circumstances, are likely to stir up hatred" against "a group of persons in the State or elsewhere on account of their race, colour, nationality, religion, ethnic or national origins, membership of the travelling community or sexual orientation

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