Modern Power and the First Amendment: Reassessing Hate Speech

Platform imperialism, communications law and relational sovereignty

“…Susan Brison draws on relational autonomy to argue that hate speech may undermine the autonomy of its targets, and that a relational approach to freedom of expression should be used to evaluate hate speech on a case-by-case basis ‘to determine whether regulating it would promote or undercut autonomy’ (Brison, 2000: 293). Demaske, (2004, 2008) argues that consideration of the relational power between speakers (including historical relations, such as racial oppression) should be incorporated into judicial First Amendment tests. Williams (2009: 1010–1011) suggests that First Amendment doctrine should consider speech ‘as systems of relationships’ rather than simply ‘the expressive acts of individuals’; and that, therefore, laws regulating speech must serve the to protect speech as systems and relations between people, ensuring vibrant and health systems of mass media, education and political communication that facilitate ‘both the creation of shared reality and the promotion of deep critique’.…”