Should hate speech ever be banned? Is doing so antithetical to democratic principles?

Alexander Brown's research tackles this timely and thorny problem.

Brown is one of the world’s foremost and nuanced defenders of hate speech regulations. He has published a ground-breaking book on the subject with Routledge, Hate Speech Law: A Philosophical Examination, in which he argues that such laws can be defended on principled grounds of autonomy, dignity, and legitimacy, and not in spite of those principles. He has also recently published seminal articles on what hate speech is (What is hate speech? Part 1: The Myth of Hate), which groups ought to be protected by hate speech regulations (The “Who?” Question in the Hate Speech Debate: Part 1: Consistency, Practical, and Formal Approaches), why online hate speech is distinctive (What is so special about online (as compared to offline) hate speech?), and whether we should adopt a precautionary approach to the harms of hate speech (Hate speech laws, legitimacy, and precaution: a reply to James Weinstein).

Alexander Brown's research will be showcased online shortly.


Alexander Brown, Reader, School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies

Brown, A. (2015), Hate Speech Law: A Philosophical Examination. Routledge.

Brown, A. (2017), What is hate speech? Part 1: The Myth of Hate. Law and Philos (2017) 36: 419. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10982-017-9297-1

Brown, A. (2016). The “Who?” Question in the Hate Speech Debate: Part 1: Consistency, Practical, and Formal Approaches. Canadian Journal of Law & Jurisprudence, 29(2), 275-320. doi:10.1017/cjlj.2016.13

Brown, A. (2017). What is so special about online (as compared to offline) hate speech? Ethnicities, May 2017. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468796817709846

Brown, A. (2017). Hate speech laws, legitimacy, and precaution: A reply to James Weinstein. Constitutional Commentary, 32(3), 599.  http://hdl.handle.net/11299/191520