A number of laws and regulations have been rushed through to stop this "new" crisis.
"Hate Speech" is communication that makes any "group" feel slighted, unimportant, or even ignored. The "Hate Speech" is particularly bad if this "group" has been selected for special privelege (protection) by the government. (Equal protection under the law now often means some are more equal than others.)
Groups are loosely defined as several people with a common characteristic, behavior, problem, geographical location, or hair style.
"Hate Speech" is loosely defined as the use of improper words, connotation, pronounciation, facial expression, gesture, funding, religious belief, or skin color of the speaker.
Most people agree that it's not nice to walk around deliberately making other people feel bad.
But suppose we are sitting in a restaurant. You grab the ketchup bottle and smother your apple sauce with it. You then offer me the bottle. Should I be able to tell you that I really don't like ketchup on my apple sauce?
You may think ketchup is a necessity of life and that everything should have ketchup on it. But am I engaging in "hate speech" if I say I don't want it on my apple sauce?
Am I engaging in "hate speech" if the person next to me hears me decline your offer?
Suppose in your zealousness, you proceed to drown my apple sauce in ketchup. Am I engaging in "hate speech" if I jump to my feet and yell "I don't want that stuff on my apple sauce!!!"?
Many actions must be prohibited in a society. For example, the repeated use of a club on somebody's body tends to be detrimental to their health. On the other hand, speech seldom causes harm except to persons subjected to long political speeches, and then usually less to their ears than to their pocketbooks.