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"Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) was a Rwandan radio station which broadcast from July 8, 1993 to July 31, 1994. It played a significant role in inciting the April–July 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi." ... "it is widely regarded by many Rwandan citizens (a view also shared and expressed by the UN war crimes tribunal) as having played a crucial role in creating the atmosphere of charged racial hostility that allowed the genocide to occur."

Real, verifiable proof that any publisher of information or platform that hosts information has a responsibility to ensure that they are not making society worse. This radio station fanned the flames of hatred and is responsible in part for the murder of hundreds of thousands of people.




It can equally well be used as an example of why hate speech should be outlawed rather than moderated.


Regrettably it isn’t that clear cut. While hate is illegal—and rightfully so—racists, bigots and war mongers can and do find ways to spread their hate with legal means. This includes shorthands, dog whistles, framing and tones, etc.[1] I don’t think we will ever be able to conceive a legal framework that can catch all these as hate speech. So we need moderation along side criminalization of hate speech.

1: I recommend the YouTube series The Alt-Right Playbook for an overview of these tactics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xGawJIseNY&list=PLJA_jUddXv...


> I don’t think we will ever be able to conceive a legal framework that can catch all these as hate speech.

Then why would Facebook be able to conceive a moderation framework that can catch all these? The underlying problem to be solved is the same, it has just been removed from democratic scrutiny.




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