Sociology of Hate Speech Laws. 2

Session III: Scholars working on hate speech laws, or closely related topics, are invited to join this session and initiate discussion on these and/or similar questions. Potential questions include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Do all minority groups benefit equally from the protection of hate speech laws?
• Has the application of hate speech laws been (in)consistent and, as such, do they contribute to structural (in)equality?
• Given that hate speech is political in nature and that political speech, too, can be interpreted as hate speech, do hate speech laws impede the right to free speech and public participation—both of which are crucial for a healthy democratic society?

In recent years, with the expansion of online communication on the pretext of preventing online hate speech, governments have also involved corporations to monitor people’s online communication. As a result, corporate surveillance has become a tangible reality. Some questions that arise from this new reality include, but are not limited, to:

• What are the ramifications of corporate surveillance and/or how does such surveillance impact the public sphere, free communication, and public participation in democracies?
• What are the social ramifications of the interplay between hate speech politics and hate speech laws?