The Internet of Hate: Comparing the Nature, Harms, and Regulatory Challenges of Online and Offline Hate Speech

Many people experience the current Internet epoch as the Internet of Hate. But what, if anything, is unique or special about online as compared to offline hate speech? Addressing errors and gaps in the existing literature, this Article provides a new analysis of the distinctive nature, harms, and regulatory challenges of online hate speech. In doing so, it examines several important issues: access and reach; anonymity and invisibility; communities of hate; competition and gameplay/gamification; automated detection and moderation; AI-generated hate speech; instantaneousness; target demographics; harm; international hate speech laws; and the criminal liability of senior managers and officers of Internet companies. This Article also makes policy recommendations for each of the aforementioned issues.