"Hate Speech"

"Hate speech" is a contested term for speech that attacks people based on characteristics such as race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or national origin. In the United States, there is no legal "hate speech" exception to the First Amendment — the Supreme Court has consistently held that hateful speech is protected unless it crosses into a true threat or incitement to imminent violence. In Europe and elsewhere, hate speech laws restrict a broader category of expression. On social platforms, "hate speech" is applied as a platform policy category that operates entirely outside the law and is applied inconsistently.

What it means

The definitional problem: what's hateful to one person is honest speech to another. Religious content that affirms traditional marriage is "hate speech" to LGBT advocates; LGBT content is "anti-Christian hate" to some religious communities. Both categories have faced removal from social platforms under hate speech policies. The result is that the label's enforcement tracks the political preferences of the platform's moderation teams, not any objective standard.

The concept of hate speech is in quotation marks in this glossary not to dismiss real bigotry, but to signal that the term's definition is genuinely contested and its application is frequently political.

How it works on Gab

Gab does not apply "hate speech" as a removal category. Content that is illegal under U.S. law — credible threats, incitement to imminent violence — is prohibited. Expression of religious belief, political opinion, or social critique that someone finds offensive is not. Users who are offended can block, mute, or rebut. They can't report someone into silence for having the wrong opinion.

Related terms

"Hate speech" policies are a primary mechanism for viewpoint discrimination on major platforms. Free speech and the First Amendment are the constitutional counterarguments. Compare misinformation and disinformation as other contested label categories.