In America, hate speech is generally protected by the First Amendment.

But should it be?

W. Wat Hopkins is emeritus professor of communication at Virginia Tech, where he taught communication law and cyberspace law.

Timestamps

0:00 Introduction

5:34 Why write about hate speech?

8:50 Has the Supreme Court ruled on hate speech?

13:56 What speech falls outside First Amendment protection?

16:44 The history of the First Amendment

20:00 Fighting words and Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942)

24:00 How does the Supreme Court determine what speech is protected?

35:24 Defining hate speech

38:54 Debating the value of hate speech

44:02 Defining hate speech (again)

50:30 Abuses of hate speech codes

1:00:10 Skokie

1:02:39 Current Supreme Court and hate speech

1:06:00 Outro

Show Notes

Matal v. Tam (2017)

“HATE: Why We Should Resist it With Free Speech, Not Censorship” by Nadine Strossen

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