> That is true, however, certain people when surrounded by "hateful" speech for long periods of time can easily become the actual law breakers who attack foreigners or trans or whatever other things some people hate.
I'm connected to a few British people on social media who seem to just spew constant dehumanizing vitriol and hate against the Tories, for years and years. They're traitors, they're nazis, they're destroying the country, they all hate the poor, women, gays, etc. Do you think this kind of rhetoric has caused a significant increase in violence against "Tories", and do you think it should be criminalized?
Isn’t that because people have internalised the value of free speech regarding politics and therefore don’t react with violence or aggression when their side is strongly criticised?
In Britain we have a phrase beliefs “worthy of respect in a democratic society” (WORIADS) - ideally people should be able to express, and more importantly hear, these with zero inclination to violence - more tolerance, more moderation of emotion, less censorship - would be my ideal.
> Do you think this kind of rhetoric has caused a significant increase in violence against "Tories", and do you think it should be criminalized?
No - not significant.
No - I don't think rhetoric should be criminalized.
FWIW, I don't think a Twitter post about a Tory can be violent. Potentially it's an incitement to violence; but that's already illegal (quite rightly).
No, but I was specifically asking the OP who believes that a person surrounded by "hateful" speech for long periods of time can easily start breaking the law and attacking people.
I'm connected to a few British people on social media who seem to just spew constant dehumanizing vitriol and hate against the Tories, for years and years. They're traitors, they're nazis, they're destroying the country, they all hate the poor, women, gays, etc. Do you think this kind of rhetoric has caused a significant increase in violence against "Tories", and do you think it should be criminalized?