The Politics of Hate Speech Laws

Alexander Brown is Reader in Political and Legal Theory at the University of East Anglia (UEA), UK. He is the author of A Theory of Legitimate Expectations for Public Administration (Oxford University Press, 2017), Hate Speech Law: A Philosophical Examination (Routledge, 2015), Ronald Dworkin’s Theory of Equality: Domestic and Global Perspectives (Palgrave, 2009), and Personal Responsibility: Why It Matters (Continuum, 2009). He has published articles on the concept of hate speech, the `Who?’ question in the hate speech debate, the use of civil torts for hate speech, the nature of online hate speech and its captive audiences and precautionary approaches to hate speech regulation. In 2018 he was a Visiting Scholar at the University of Queensland. Adriana Sinclair is Lecturer in International Relations at the University of East Anglia (UEA), UK. She is the author of International Relations Theory and International Law: A Critical Approach (Cambridge University Press, 2011). She has published articles on interdisciplinary approaches to international relations and international law, constructivism, and the agency of international law. She is currently working a new comprehensive theory of international relations and international law. In 2012 she was an AHRC/BBC Radio 3 New Generation Thinker, and in 2018 she was a Visiting Scholar at the University of Queensland.

1 Introduction


PART I: THE POLITICAL CONTEXT OF HATE SPEECH LAWS





2 The contextualised meaning and salience of problems of hate speech


3 The politics behind the introduction of stirring up religious hatred offences in England and Wales


4 International relations theory and international hate speech instruments


PART II: POLITICAL ARGUMENTS AGAINST HATE SPEECH LAWS





5 The slippery slope argument


6 Some other (bad) political arguments against hate speech laws


PART III: HYPERPOLITICAL HATE SPEECH AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT





7 Do political figures have any special moral duties to refrain from hate speech?


8 Policy options for tackling hyperpolitical hate speech


9 What does the future hold?