혐오표현과 표현의 자유

Abstract

Freedom of expression is one of the indispensable rights of democratic society. There are various types of communicative expressions that realize freedom of expression. Some of these forms of communicative expression do not enjoy the value of freedom of expression. Recently one of the things that has been discussed is the problem of the hate speech. Korea has been actively engaged in free expression activities in cyberspace, and there is a side effect that the expressions that infringe the rights of others in this space incite the aversion to individuals or specific groups. In addition, these phenomena are manifesting in multicultural society due to marriage immigrant or studying abroad etc. Hate speech can be defined as a speech that attacks a person or group on the basis of attributes such as gender, ethnic origin, religion, race, disability, or sexual orientation. As the hate speech is recognized as a factor that threatens the state of human dignity, leading to discrimination, to the starting point of genocide, the debate has been further examined. Efforts to regulate hate speech are occurring not only in international organizations but also in individual countries. The International Covenant on Human Rights gives the member nations the obligation to regulate such hate speech. There is a legislative obligation to regulate the hate speech, as Korea has joined ‘the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination’ and ‘the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights’(ICCPR). However, there is no law to regulate the present hate speech. In this regard, the necessity of legislation to regulate the hate speech is constantly being raised. To this end, I overview the situation in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Germany, which have established case law and statute that regulate hate speech. Based on this, I examine the appropriateness and justifiability to regulate the hate speech. There is no question that the malaise of hate speech on society does not enjoy the value of the freedom of expression. However, in order to comply with constitutional demands that restrictions on the freedom of expression should be kept to a minimum, the standards of hate speech to be regulated must be clear. To this end, legislation that prohibits hate speech should clarify the object. In other words, it should be clearly defined whether the type of hate speech to be prohibited should be limited to physical violence, or to incite or inspire hate speech. And how to determine the reason for the ban. In the case of Canada, it may also be pointed out that the hate speech to sexual minorities are also subject to punishment.