kids encyclopedia robot

Hate speech facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Hate speech is a way of talking or writing that is meant to hurt or offend someone. It often targets people because of their race, gender, ethnic group, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or religion.

Some countries have laws that make hate speech illegal. For example, Canada, France, and Germany have strong laws against it. However, in the United States, hate speech is usually allowed because its Constitution protects freedom of speech. Even so, hate speech can lead to discrimination, bullying, or even hate crimes. A big international agreement called the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says that everyone should be protected from such harmful actions.

Laws Against Hate Speech

Many countries have laws to stop hate speech. These laws balance the idea of freedom of speech with the need to protect people from harm.

International Agreements

Several international agreements talk about hate speech:

  • The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) was one of the first groups to say that laws were needed to stop harmful language. They work with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) to make sure countries follow these rules.
  • The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) says that while people have the right to speak freely, this right can be limited. This is allowed if it protects the "rights or good name of others," or if it keeps a country safe and orderly.
  • The ICCPR also clearly states that promoting hatred based on race, religion, or nationality that leads to violence or unfair treatment is not allowed.

Laws in Different Countries

Most developed countries have laws against hate speech. This includes places like Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Ireland, South Africa, Sweden, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

The United States is different because its Supreme Court has often ruled that hate speech laws go against the First Amendment of their Constitution, which protects free speech.

Laws against hate speech can have two main goals:

  • To keep public order and peace.
  • To protect the dignity and respect of all people.

Hate Speech Online

A lot of hate speech happens on the internet. Many big tech companies like Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Twitter have their own rules about what content is allowed on their platforms. These rules often ban hate speech.

In 2016, these companies agreed with the European Union to quickly review and remove illegal hate speech. They try to find and remove hate speech using different methods:

  • User reporting: People can report content they think is hate speech.
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI): Computers are programmed to find and flag harmful content.
  • Manual review: Employees also check content to decide if it breaks the rules.

Even with these efforts, hate speech is still a big problem online. Search engines like Google Search also try to adjust their algorithms. This helps to prevent hateful content from showing up high in search results.

Images for kids

  • Virgin SIM card in Poland with the slogan of the campaign against hate speech "Words have power, use them wisely"

    Virgin SIM card in Poland with the slogan of the campaign against hate speech "Words have power, use them wisely"

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Discurso de odio para niños

kids search engine
All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
Hate speech Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.