ABSTRACT. This study is grounded in the considerable body of scholarship examining the increasing incidence of online hate in the cross-cultural framework, the massive rejuvenation and effective alteration of hate groups throughout the web, and the difficult tasks of the absolute free speech setting of the Internet. This research makes conceptual and methodological contributions to the elements that enable pernicious rhetoric to expand on the web, the explosion of racist and radical campaigns on the Internet, and the social underlying forces active in the online environment in relation to risk and ill-treatment.

Keywords: online hate; free speech; racism; victimization; criminalization

How to cite: Balica, Raluca (2017). “The Criminalization of Online Hate Speech: It’s Complicated,” Contemporary Readings in Law and Social Justice 9(2): 184–190.

Received 26 August 2017 • Received in revised form 27 September 2017
Accepted 28 September 2017 • Available online 20 October 2017

doi:10.22381/CRLSJ92201710