Regulating Hate Speech in Cyberspace: Issues of Desirability and Efficacy

Cyber-libertarians believe that cyberspace must support unlimited free speech and no regulation on internet content. Despite this idea, nations are making obligatory individual regimes of content regulation. It is impossible to obtain universal agreement on Internet content regulation. There is a wide disagreement about how freedom of speech applies to the Internet. Nations such as Germany and France have considered both criminal and civil penalties for hate speech on the Internet. However, they face with difficulties, especially when the defendants are not nationals, and when the content originates from foreign jurisdictions. The Council of Europe has recently moved to include an additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime. This Protocol would cover offences of racist or xenophobic propaganda, making them subject to reciprocal enforcement provisions by Member States. Although the piecemeal approaches may lead to failure, the international efforts have more chance of the success.
source: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a713670470

image: hate speech cartoon by David Fitzsimmons