Responses to Internet Hate Sites: Is Speech Too Free in Cyberspace?

Abstract

This descriptive study investigates people's responses to incendiary hate sites found on the World Wide Web. Drawing on legal guidelines for other classes of unprotected speech, this study explores the parallels between First Amendment formulas and people's perceptions of hate sites. Additionally, it examines perceptions of harmfulness and persuasiveness. Two hundred sixty-six volunteers in an on-line study each read and evaluated one of 11 white supremacist Web pages. One test indicated that the communicative value of the expression was low, while a second test suggested people perceived an indirect, insidious threat rather than "imminent" lawless action. Viewing short-term effects as the legal harm, white supremacist hate rhetoric is protected speech. If one considers indirect or long-term effects, however, hate speech may reside at the border of First Amendment protection. The results inform the debate regarding protection for Internet hate speech.