One of the most worrying trends in politics and culture is the growth and normalization of hate speech, especially online. A leading factor of this trend is anonymity: anyone can make posts without any trace to their actual identity, removing the social consequences associated with hate speech.
Arguably even more important, social media algorithms are designed to boost posts that have high engagement, causing content creators to embrace the art of engagement farming, or “rage baiting.” This can consist of simply misspelling a word or adding a grammatical mistake to bait people into leaving comments, but it can also involve coming up with the most controversial opinions possible to fuel negative attacks.
Right-wing “political commentators” like Nick Fuentes, Alex Jones, and Charlie Kirk, have built entire careers off blatant racism, antisemitism, and opinions meant to offend as many groups as possible. For example, Jones, the owner of the far-right Infowars website, was sued for defamation by the families of the Sandy Hook school shootings victims. He had denied that the shooting – which took place in an elementary school and took the lives of 20 children and 6 adults – ever happened, arguing that it was pro gun-control propaganda.
All three of these men form different wings of the far-right movement: Jones’ website focuses more on conspiracy theories and fake news, Kirk gained attention off viral clips of debating college students, and Fuentes has achieved infamy for his army of incels and holocaust deniers. With all of this being said, nobody should be under the assumption that these three figures are the sole components of society’s overall normalization of hate speech. Rather, their behavior reflects a greater shift in conservative politics, changing what used to be considered far-right into standard conservative politics.
Republican politicians will defend white supremacist and Christian nationalist groups, claiming that it comes down to “differences in opinions,” citing the 1st amendment and the importance of free speech. With this comes a wider issue of people normalizing the expression of fascist and extremist views, contributing to incidents like the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Virginia that ended in the death of one young woman.
Whenever the topic of hate speech and the limits of free speech come up, it’s important to remember the idea of the “paradox of tolerance.” This idea states that if a society is too tolerant of intolerance, it will eventually be destroyed by those who are intolerant of others. If we become too complacent with people saying hate comments under the guise of “hot takes,” they become more comfortable and their overtly bigoted takes become less fringe. That’s why not glossing over hate speech and offensive comments is so important: letting our society become tolerant of intolerance is a pathway that leads to, in the most extreme cases, real-world political violence against minorities.
Graphics by Ida Bralower
