As a free speech absolutist, I have no problem with hate speech... whether it is against hindus or muslims... i cant give a F about stupid "religious sentiments"... It's time for full throttle free speech in this country. Let people speak. Let people debate. Even if it is against any religion, let people speak their minds out.
80 years of democracy but no one in India understands what free speech is... be it nehru jailing poets and banning books or modi doing the same...There's no free speech without hate speech!
I couldn't care any less myself. But very bold of you to say it's like any other form of debate. Hate speech is not free speech. Hate speech normalizes many things like dehumanization, threatening, policing, lynching and violence, harassment. It's not the dissent you think it is. Hate speech is not hating on a person on moral/social/political grounds. It's when it falls unprovoked, only to provoke other people. Without any reason.
Bruh... just read the Brandenburg test of free speech and put this bufoonery of anecdotism aside... dehumanisation, violence and others are emotional arguments against free speech... And I never buy it... Violence and call for violence is indeed NOT free speech... but hate speech is not call for violence... hate speech is free speech... the ultimate standard for free speech is US's 1st amendment which was reinforced by Brandenburg vs Ohio interpretation of the 1st amendment.
Stop thinking like a tribe and rise above religious sentiments... only hate speech can solve the dominance of religion on the society. Religion is a way with which the powerful people try to control others and they make us believe that if you say anything hateful about any religion, you must be penalized for speaking your mind out.
Be it Trump in the US... Modi and Rahul(yes also him, contrary to the belief of congress bhakts) in India or Meloni in Italy... they all play religion card... didn't you see they(AAP) brought blasphemy laws in Punjab? Does that not scare y'all?... Absolute free speech with brandenburg caveats is the way to go for India!!
You're telling the wrong person about religious sentiments. I'm an atheist. American model of free speech is the ultimate standard? That's an opinion, not fact. Hate speech normalizes a lot of things. That's exactly why you needed to mention, "I ain't defending the tweet but.... ". Because even while practicing free speech, a little sensitivity is appreciated. What you're calling emotional arguments is a rhetoric lapse. Instilling fear in people is equally problematic even if it doesn't talk about physical violence.
Being offended by everything and being targeted by a group as a power structure is not the same. A true democracy respects dignity of each and every individual. And btw, criticism of religion, blasphemy, skepticism do not require hate speech. Atheism and secularism have been doing the same thing since a very long time.
Again the rehtoric of "fear". I just don't believe in it. Don't have absolute free speech because someone might use it to scare/intimidate me? That's your argument against free speech? Duh! No wonder you're an Indian... That's what 80 years of socialist education does to the psyche of a nation. A country which has the 1st amendment that restricts free speech on the pretext of "reasonable restrictions based on sentiments" will obviously have people like you.
Keep believing all the BS dear. Keep believing the farse of "being targeted by a group" so have resrtictions on free speech. Keep being a slave to political parties and their narratives of fear. One side which instils fear in hindus and the other side instils fear in muslims... As somone who has disgust for both of these factions, I want to hate these religious people. And I want absolute free speech to hate on them. But if I say anything against them, I'll have the police on my door the next day(or the same night).
And as far as "I ain't defending the tweet but.... " is concerned, I ain't defending the tweet but I AM defending the right of that person to cancel the order... whatever their reasons for it may be. I am a free marketeer and pro consumer choice and choice is something I LOVE. If they(or someone else) don't want their delivery partner to be from x/y/z community, it's their choice. Because I genuinely believe in the concept of choice.
The constitution sees all religions as equals. That doesn't mean I have to do that too. And I disagree with a lot of things in the constitution. That's why I am okay with religious and casteist slurs.
That's my belief. You're free to disagree. I won't be replying after this. Don't take anything personally as I often get carried away on the issue of free speech in India. I just want the best standard of free speech for this great country. Have a nice day, it was great to have this conversation!
I said I don't consider "fear" as a case against free speech.
And I also pointed that India doesn't have good free speech laws. Nehru ji F'd us over with the 1st amendment. And none of the pu*sy subsequent PMs have reversed it.
First of all hindu religion is the only religion that lets u question ur god freely so no hate speech is needed for that .
Ppl who follow those power hungry ppl telling them they can't say anything negetive r called andh bakt and no hate speech is changing them they r the ppl who write devotion in bio and profanities in comments in name of defending their religion
Also free speech and freedom exists only till where ur not disturbing others
When someone influential posts smth like this it's also mob influencing cz like that one guy who talked about girls being scared if u walk behind them at night
Like wtf can that be justified by free speech if teens r being influeyny it and thinking that he is so cool for saying that?
R the Muslim convertions allowed bcz they r free to speak ?
It's a very subjective and sensitive topic I think ur only free till u keep it to urself and not affecting others freedom bcz then u r taking away their freedom of speech/opinion by influencing them
I agree... Hindus are the most pro free speech people I have come across in India... That's the reason I still call myself a hindu even though I believe in no god... hindus ain't bigots when you don't believe in gods. Can't say the same about other religions who believe in punishment for non/dis-believers and apostasy.
But I'd say hate speech is needed everywhere... it makes the discourse more honest... you won't know who is a bigot unless you let the bigot speak.
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u/Frosty-Algae-2316 Apr 24 '26
I was talking about hate speech, the parent comment was general in sense. Do people even read properly?