Online Hate Speech - 3/13

Throughout the internet, it's so surprise that a lot of hatred exists. This goes for every social media platform. It's a fact that racism has been a problem for many years, and the presence of the internet has only made the problem worse. A lot of mainstream sites such as Facebook, Reddit, and Instagram have made an effort to cleanse their sites of this content, sometimes going as far to ban users that are spreading this kind of discourse. There are many young, conservative comedians online. Some of these figures include Steven Crowder, Ben Shapiro, and Gavin McInnes. These figures are quite active all social media platforms and are garnering young audiences to spread the republican agenda with content that contains racism, homophobia and everything else in between. While a lot of these figures following is achieved on their own, there are multiple sources that give them a platform to humanize them, thus adding to the problem. A podcaster named Joe Rogan is possibly the most key figure that engages in these actions. Rogan has had figures such as Alex Jones, Ben Shapiro, and many other figures that have supporters that participate in internet hate speech. While Rogan's concept of engaging all sides in hopes of understanding the left and right, there are some things that these figures have said, posted, or otherwise portrayed that are not acceptable. One of the most notable instances is Steven Crowder's demonization from youtube for the use of homophobic slurs. Rogan is a very popular podcaster that has guests to the caliber of Bernie Sanders himself. Please note that Bernie Sanders runs his campaigns on inclusion, making him a guest that should have a platform. Rogan is very influential, so people might see these guests as rational when interviewed by Rogan because of Rogan's skills as a host. The worst example of Rogan's guest choices is most likely the head of infowars, Alex Jones. It goes without saying that Jones has spoken nothing but slanderous, hateful, news stories on both the site and his personal social media. As a lot of people know, Jones spoke out against the Sandy Hook shooting, saying it "Never happened." This incident alone should be enough for Rogan to never have him on his podcast, as his discourse should never be allowed in the media. There are many hosts that give platforms to people like this such as Vice, Louderwithcrowder, and The Daily Wire. This is hot button issue that needs to be addressed much more.

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