Free Speech and the Internet - Lesson

In this lesson students learn about the inherent tension within democratic societies between freedom of expression and freedom from hatred. They also learn how Canada has addressed these issues within the Criminal Code of Canada, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and human rights legislation in Canada, then discuss different methods that platforms could use to moderate hate speech.

English

Online hate can have an impact in three interconnected ways:

  • the harm done to its targets, either from personal harassment or from online spaces being experienced as hostile;
  • the risk that those who encounter it may be radicalized by it, becoming more sympathetic and possibly even active; and
  • the effect that it has on the values and culture of the online spaces in which it happens.

The Responding to Online Hate guide assists law enforcement personnel, community groups and educators in recognizing and countering hateful content on the Internet – especially as it pertains to youth.

There are two main strategies for addressing online hate and cultures of hatred in the classroom: teaching youth to recognize and deconstruct it, and empowering them to intervene by answering back to it.[1]

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