We like to think we have freedom of speech. Doesn’t the First Amendment guarantee this to us? But some states have “hate speech” laws on the books. New York is considering a law, already passed in California that requires social media companies to report “hate speech.” This is the “Stop Hiding Hate Act” and has been passed by the State’s Assembly. Here is an account of the measure from Vince Chang, who favors it:
“Under pressure from the ADL [Ant-Defamation League] and other groups, internet platforms have voluntarily adopted measures to regulate hate speech. The ADL described some of the measures that have been taken:
Facebook prohibited Holocaust denial content, hired a vice president of civil rights, changed parts of its advertising platform to prohibit various forms of discrimination; expanded policies against content that undermined the legitimacy of the election; and built a team to study and eliminate bias in artificial intelligence. Due to pressure from ADL and other civil rights organizations, Twitter banned linked content, URL links to content outside the platform that promotes violence and hateful conduct. Reddit added its first global hate policy, providing for the removal of subreddits and users that “promote hate based on identity or vulnerability.”[12]
Despite these efforts, one analysis showed that major social media platforms fail to take down more than 80% of antisemitic posts on their platforms. The Center for Countering Digital Hatred reported that 80% of 700 posts containing “anti-Jewish hatred,” which had collectively been viewed 7.3 million times, were not removed. The research covered Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. Facebook was said to have failed to act on 89% of posts.
In an attempt to respond to internet hate speech, New York legislators have introduced the Stop Hiding Hate Act, legislation that has passed the New York Senate and is pending in the Assembly. This bill would require large social media companies to disclose their policies and moderation practices for online hate speech. The legislation is modeled after a similar law in effect in California.