I teach a graduate-level course focusing on censorship and freedom of speech. I endeavor to place several different viewpoints before my students and to challenge their thinking; many come to the class with an unexamined anti-censorship stance, which I would like to challenge with compelling arguments for some limitations on speech/expression. There are some classic examples of problematic speech, types of speech that people have, or want to, restrict:Have at it, Shakers!
* hate speech (particularly sexist and racist/ethnic slurs)
* corporate speech (rules about marketing, truthfulness, etc.)
* symbolic speech (such as burning the flag)
* anonymous speech
This is where I need help! As you may remember from various comment threads, I'm personally in favor of wide-open speech with practically no restrictions. But I know many Shakers are not. So, do you have any go-to sources for the "limit some speech for practical reasons" sort of argument? Any ideas would be most appreciated.
I know there are—there must be—good sources out there explaining why we should ban hate speech or regulate advertising or other such actions. That's what I'm looking for. Ideally, these sources would be academic, peer-reviewed, 5-35 pages (an article, a book chapter or two, etc.). I'd ideally like to include philosophical/ theoretical arguments, as well as some practical examples/ issues. Less academic sources, such as newspaper articles or blogs, would work in a pinch. I have looked through many databases offered by my university and haven't found much that's useful; I assume I'm not searching well.
Thanks in advance for any help!
[Related Reading: On Hate Speech; On Hate Crimes.]
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