Research Project Presentation (News Article)

HATE SITES FROWNED UPON
By Billie Hiraishi

BELMONT – Hate sites should not be protected as freedom of speech under the First Amendment, that's according to a recent survey taken by college students at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, Cali.

88% Of NDNU students believe that allowing individuals to write, post, and share their extremist views worldwide via the internet should be illegal and agree that “Such racist and judgmental sites should be removed and banned from any medium.”
For moral, personal, and/or emotional reasons, a majority of the students believe hate sites promote public misinformation.

Hate sites are websites advocating hatred towards other individuals or groups. These include social network pages, chat forums, and blogs. There are over 11,500 hate sites according to the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewish h h uman rights organization that confronts hate and anti-Semitism.

Of the 26 students surveyed, 15 believe hate sites should not have the right to actively promote their beliefs online.

“It would be wrong to have a website recruiting individuals into their groups, but having a website where they just state facts about their beliefs would be acceptable,” said one student.

While 23 out of 26 students support freedom of speech as a Constitutional right under the First Amendment, it is speech specifically advocating hate that they do not support.

Over half the students surveyed believe that it is morally wrong for hate sites to create a social network page through sites like Facebook and Twitter. 16% of st udents believe that doing so would allow them to send their racist comments all over the world targeting prospective recruits.

But there are exceptions, says one student: freedom of religion. Adding that, “Catholic churches, along with other religions should be allowed to promote their religion online, but the idea of extremist groups promoting such racist beliefs is unsuitable for our society.”

When asked whether hate sites should have the right to post tutorials and video clips with bomb-making instructions, 21 out of 26 students said no.

Of the five who answered yes to posting tutorials, four of them were political science majors. All four students were in full support of freedom of speech for hate sites. One student commented, “We are a free nation, anyone should be able to write as they please.”