This is what our Constitution (section 16) says about freedom of expression and hate speech;
16 Freedom of expression (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of expression, which includes- (a) freedom of the press and other media; (b) freedom to receive or impart information or ideas; (c) freedom of artistic creativity; and (d) academic freedom and freedom of scientific research. (2) The right in subsection (1) does not extend to- (a) propaganda for war; (b) incitement of imminent violence; or (c) advocacy of hatred that is based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion, and that constitutes incitement to cause harm. If one accepts this (and I hope we do) then we should be cautious about wanting to censor people or remove them from the group simply because we don't like what they say. We've been down this road before in this country, and censorship is incompatible with a democratic society. Clearly, though, one should draw the line at 'hate speech'. I think that incitement to vigilante-type actions could constitute 'incitement of imminet violence' and hence could constitute hate speech, even when the targets are not identified in terms of in terms of race, ethnicity, nationality, gender or religion. (I've added 'nationality' to the list because of the recent xenphobic/ Afriphobic violence in our country.) I also feel that in a public forum like this one should try to moderate one's language (however strongly one feels) and avoid personal insult or ad hominem attacks. By the way, I'm not a lawyer, so this is open to correction. Rob --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Observatory Neighbourhood watch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/obsnw?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
