Editorial - www.hatecrime.co Laws Uncritical Engagement
Fernne Brennan · 2009
In the light of growing concern over the globalisation of the use of the Internet as a form of mass communication, this set of papers deals in the discourse on the promulgation of hate in cyberspace. The authors provide a multi-disciplinary framework that spans legal. socio-legal and criminological disciplines. The approaches demonstrate that the intersection of hate speech and free speech is alive and controversial in the arena of the Internet. Some writers argue that stricter legislation threatens to curtail our hard won freedoms, whilst others suggest that ineffectual regulation fails to protect racial minority groups. Further, how useful a role does international regulation play when its terms appear to subject its potential strength to the norms of 'self interest' that pervade state cooperation in these matters?