Can you go call trudeau a retarded nigger?
Comment on JK Rowling reported to police for ‘misgendering’ trans TV newsreader
ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca 6 months ago
I always love when Americans tell me, a Canadian, I don’t have free speech. What can you say that I can’t?
MomoTimeToDie@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca 6 months ago
Yes. Slurs and swears aren’t illegal*. You can say anything you want about Trudeau, short of an actual death threat. Hate speech is publishing something that says disabled people or black people are subhuman. However, if you specify one person, it’s not a group, and not hate speech. So you can call Trudeau subhuman.
*(small caveat, there’s a rarely enforced ‘public disturbance’ law that allows police to arrest people who swear in public, or are in general being a nuisance. Nobody actually goes to court over it. Police mostly use it as a way to arrest someone who is being an ass, then drop the charges once they’re back at the station. I’d say this goes against free speech but it’s rare and mostly an inconvenience)
wintermute_oregon@lemm.ee 6 months ago
Hate speech is publishing something that says disabled people or black people are subhuman
That’s legal in the United States. Though you could be sued civilly for libel.
Can say say I wish they’d all die. That’s legal.
You can’t say let’s go kill on the whatever. That’s typically illegal.
wintermute_oregon@lemm.ee 6 months ago
it. Police mostly use it as a way to arrest someone who is being an ass, then drop the charges once they’re back at the station
Same thing in California. It’s a way to calm the peace for a bit. In California it’s a 415 disturbing the peace.
wintermute_oregon@lemm.ee 6 months ago
R1. Racist language
wintermute_oregon@lemm.ee 6 months ago
Who said that? I must have missed the context.
Blamemeta@lemm.ee 6 months ago
Can you express unpopular opinions without the government stepping in?
ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca 6 months ago
Absolutely! Unless your opinion is visible minorities should die. In which case, you can’t publish it. You can still say it in private or in non-public forums.
Blamemeta@lemm.ee 6 months ago
So two things.
That’s not free speech then. If you want to run your country that way, fine, but don’t call it free speech.
Even horrible speech should be protected. An old quote: “I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” and it’s one I like. If someone wants to out themselves as a bigot, I say let them.
Misgendering someone is not saying anyone should die, visible minorities or not.
ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca 6 months ago
As an aside, It’s just like how Americans say they’re the most free when they have the highest prison population. Canadians can smoke cannabis but Americans go to jail for it. Canadians can get an abortion but Americans go to jail for it. Canadians can buy pseudoephedrine but Americans can’t. When a Canadian leaves the country they dont need to pay Canadian taxes, but Americans still do even when abroad. I really don’t get what Americans think freedom is. It really just feels like no limits on guns and bigotry is all one needs to be free. Nothing else matters.
I agree. Canada has hate speech laws, not horrible speech laws. They’re incredibly specific and the average person would have a hard time getting in trouble with them. The only cases seem to be with prominent neo-nazis and gay bashers who made repeated, direct, and public calls to harm specific and easily identifiable groups.
I agree. Misgendering someone isn’t hate speech and wouldn’t even come close to meeting the standard the Canadian supreme court has set. Since the group needs to be readily and easily identifiable, it could even be argued transgender people aren’t protected from hate speech at all.
wintermute_oregon@lemm.ee 6 months ago
Didn’t Jordan Peterson get in trouble for some of his comments ? They wanted to take away his license.