Sayfa 249Thoughts On Hate Speech And Freedom Of Expression…
Şeyma KUŞ*…
Abstract
Today, hate speech is a highly controversial issue between those who argue that it should be sanctioned and those who oppose it on the grounds that it is an infringement of freedom of expression. There are many underlying reasons for this controversy. The lack of a common definition of hate speech, the ambiguity of the concept’s boundaries, the fact that it is used in daily life in a broader sense than its legal definitions, and the fact that each country makes different legal arrangements in terms of scope and sanctions are just some of them.…
The issue is made more problematic by the fact that it confronts freedom of expression, which is seen as a cornerstone of democracy. While freedom of expression, which is an indispensable element of democratic societies, has many important functions, such as enabling individuals to self-discover and to have access to real information, it is inevitable that restrictions on hate speech will take democratic societies a step backwards and that the argument will arise that censorship of ideas is being applied through restrictions on speech.…
In countries with a poor record on freedom of expression, such as Türkiye, it is of utmost importance that freedom of expression is protected in many areas, such as the effective participation of individuals in politics, freedom of information, freedom of the media and the press. The issue should be approached with care and caution in …
At this point, perhaps it would be more accurate to approach the issue from a human rights perspective as one of not harming human dignity, which is the main concern of human rights, rather than as a dilemma of hate speech versus freedom of expression. This does not mean that there is no conflict between hate speech and freedom of expression in the context of the limitation of human rights, but it does require that the root causes of hate speech be addressed in order to protect human dignity.…
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