The shaping of modern “hate speech” laws

In recent years, Western nations have used “hate speech” laws to aggressively restrict online speech. Under these laws, simply retweeting a picture of a bow of ribbons in the Suffragette colors is considered a “hate crime.” Even in America, where free speech protections are enshrined in the First Amendment of the US Constitution, the Biden administration has expressed support for social media platforms cracking down on hate speech.

Yet while the rise of the internet has demonstrated just how far-reaching hate speech laws and rules have become, this censorship buzzword made its way into national law years before the internet even existed.