We’ve heard this one before: the push to put in place measures identifying and sanctioning acts that are not (f)actually illegal, but will effectively be treated as such, in order to reduce the supposedly dangerous levels of “internet harassment,” etc.
Some variation of the phrase – “acts of hate that may not violate the law but still cause significant harm in a community” – has appeared in new legislation, rules and initiatives across the world – in the UK, New Zealand, Australia, Europe.
And now the trend has caught on in California.
The governor of this US state, Gavin Newsom, has announced a new multi-language program dubbed “CA vs Hate” which will feature a site and a hotline that will allow people to report what they perceive as acts of hate.
