Book Review
The book published by Eliva Press has received a positive review from OCRB, written by Dr. Anthony David Vernon
Freedom of speech is often thought of as a kind of unshakable pillar, a timeless concept with clearly defined limits, but this is wishful thinking. In Hate Speech and Freedom of Speech in an Online Environment, Avinash Bhagwan Awaghade and Ruchika Jain are quick to point out that, far from being “monolithic,” freedom of speech has actually “evolved across time and across cultures, navigating a treacherous terrain between individual expression and societal cohesion.” Their book, the product of two legal studies scholars, attempts to work out the problem of eliminating hate speech online without infringing on the right to free speech.
- Awaghade and Jain are correct to note that the ubiquity of online harassment “serves as a sobering reminder of the ongoing difficulties disadvantaged people confront in the fight against discrimination and hate speech”—that not everyone will “work together in order to bring about significant change and build a society in which everyone is treated equally, respectfully, and with dignity, both online and off.” At the same time, they miss a crucial opportunity to distinguish between kinds of change: changes in mindset via digital literacy and PSAs are one thing; but radical changes to the environments themselves are another. To heighten decorum, to ennoble behavior is simply not enough to diminish hate speech online, especially given the myriad ways in which the internet actually incentivizes the activity of bad faith actors.