example_policies/hate_speech.md

Criteria

Overview

This policy defines standards for identifying content as Hate Speech.

Definition of Terms

• Protected Class: A person or group of people defined by inherent traits including race, ethnicity, nationality, immigration status, caste, religion, disability, disease status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex.
• Derogatory Slur: An inherently derogatory term for the members of a protected class, including historically reclaimed terms when used as insults.
• Non-Protected Class: Voluntary characteristics including political ideology, profession, hobby, and criminal background.

Interpretation of Language

• When language permits multiple reasonable interpretations, classify as hate speech unless context clearly shows it is not.
• Derogatory characterizations of religions as belief systems (such as "Hinduism is a garbage religion") should be interpreted as attacks on adherents of those faiths.

Definition of Label

(HS) Hate Speech

Includes

• Direct and Indirect Violence Advocacy Content: Content that celebrates, justifies, provokes, or promises physical or psychological harm directed at Protected Class members, including:

  • Calls for Violence: War, military action, or state violence against people based on Protected Class membership
  • Discriminatory Support: Supporting or justifying discriminatory attitudes based on Protected Class membership, including expressing understanding for such attitudes or justifying them even when acknowledging they are problematic
  • Hatred Advocacy: Explicit advocacy that entire Protected Classes should be hated, including comparisons between religions and political ideologies suggesting the religion should be hated

• Dehumanization and Vilification Content: Content depicting Protected Class members as subhuman, inherently deficient, or using imagery to demean them:

  • Animal Comparisons: References to "breeding" when describing human reproduction, pest comparisons (insects, vermin), or other animal metaphors used to humiliate or degrade
  • Subhuman Characterizations: Language describing members as less than human
  • Military and Invasion Metaphors: Terms like "invasion" applied to immigration or population changes, or language describing members as threats to societal coexistence
  • Civilization-Based Characterizations: Terms like "uncivilized," "backward," or "primitive" applied to Protected Classes or their religious practices (as such characterizations target adherents)
  • Other Dehumanizing Content: Disease characterizations or comparisons to non-human entities (animals, objects, vehicles) used to mock Protected Class members, particularly regarding gender identity

• Derogatory and Dehumanizing Language Content: Content using slurs, invective, or degrading terminology that demeans, shames, or attacks those identified through Protected Class affiliation:

  • Racial and Ethnic Slurs: Traditional derogatory terms (including terms like "chinky" for Asian people), stereotypical character references (like "Apu" for South Asian people), or terms combining racial characteristics with derogatory descriptors
  • Compound Derogatory Terms: Terms combining Protected Class identifiers with political extremist labels (e.g., "christofascist," "islamofascist")
  • Religious and Identity-Based Attacks: Derogatory characterizations of religious prophets, deities, or central figures; inflammatory derogatory language about religious texts or core religious elements; derogatory characterizations of religious concepts, practices, or theological elements; derogatory characterizations of religious prophets combined with expressions of hostility toward current adherents; or attacks on political, social, or cultural concepts associated with Protected Class identities (e.g., "Jewish democracy")
  • Gender-Based Derogatory Language: Derogatory terms targeting women, feminists, or gender-based Protected Classes, including crude sexual comments that specifically target or reference gender-based Protected Class characteristics

• Discrimination Advocacy Content: Content promoting discriminatory policies or practices through explicit calls for discriminatory policies, segregation or exclusion advocacy, or rights restriction promotion

• Collective Attribution of Negative Actions Content: Content attributing collective blame or supporting protected-class-wide sanctions:

  • Criminal Behavior Attribution: Claims that Protected Class members commit specific crimes or violent acts (terrorism, execution, killing, beheading, enslavement), including:
    • Claims framed as justification for another group's defensive actions
    • Claims about systematic violence by one Protected Class against another Protected Class
  • Systematic Violence and Persecution Claims: Claims about systematic attacking, persecuting, or committing violence on a global scale; religious oppression systems including forced conversion or discrimination; or historical claims attributing systematic oppression or enslavement to religious groups when they go beyond neutral historical reporting (regardless of defensive or comparative framing)
  • Ongoing and Comparative Claims: Claims about ongoing or regular criminal or violent behavior by Protected Class members, including statistical and comparative implications about criminal activities including terrorism, claims about being "top" or leading in criminal activities, or vague group references using "you people" or similar designations
  • Hatred and Discriminatory Attitude Attribution: Claims attributing hatred or discriminatory attitudes toward other groups to Protected Class members
  • Source-Attributed Claims: Broad claims attributing systematic oppression or harmful behaviors to Protected Classes, even when attributed to religious texts or framed as historical statements

• Inferiority and Superiority Claims Content: Content claiming that Protected Classes are inherently inferior or superior in morality or intelligence:

  • Intellectual Claims: Claims about cognitive or intellectual differences between racial groups (even when attributed to religious texts)
  • Moral Deficiency Claims
  • Gender-Based Superiority Claims: Statements expressing belief in traditional gender hierarchies or roles that position one gender as superior
  • Material Promoting Hierarchies

• Denial or Distortion of Historical Atrocities Content: Content denying, severely minimizing, or misrepresenting documented mass violence:

  • Scale and Effectiveness Minimization: Claims minimizing the effectiveness, scale, or impact of historical mass violence, including:
    • Statements suggesting perpetrators were unsuccessful or "bad at" committing mass violence (such as claims that Nazis were unsuccessful in killing Jews)
    • Arguments that high survivor populations indicate exaggerated persecution
  • Perpetrator Defense: Minimizing or defending perpetrators of historical atrocities, or claims that historical perpetrators were "not that bad" (even when not explicitly denying specific events)
  • Historical Distortion: Material distorting historical facts about atrocities
  • Denial Discussion: Discussing the possibility or legality of historical atrocity denial

• Conspiracy Theory Content: Content making baseless accusations that Protected Class members orchestrate major harms or manipulate powerful institutions:

  • Power Structure Control Claims: Claims about disproportionate or excessive control over government, media, or economic institutions, or rhetorical questions implying disproportionate control (including rhetorical questions implying that knowing the percentage of Protected Class members in power positions would change someone's opinion)
  • World Domination Theories: Claims about Protected Classes planning to take over or control society through population growth or other means (including direct statements about religious groups wanting to "take over the world"), or comparative statements that attribute domination goals to some while exempting others
  • Coordination Theories: Content promoting unfounded theories about Protected Class coordination or manipulation

• Rhetorical Questions and Indirect Statements Content: Content that presents hate speech through questioning formats, hypothetical discussions, or indirect suggestions, including rhetorical questions containing dehumanizing characterizations, collective attribution claims, or conspiracy theories

Excludes

• Criticism of Beliefs and Institutions Content: Criticism of political philosophies, theological teachings, or organizational structures that avoids hate speech and refrains from attacking Protected Class members:

  • Religious Figure Criticism: Comparative critiques of religious figures, prophets, or founders when focused on documented actions or teachings, or theological criticism that questions religious figures' authenticity or teachings without targeting current adherents
  • Institutional and Academic Content: Criticism of institutional practices or beliefs rather than adherents; academic debate and theological or philosophical debates that do not attack Protected Class members; or doctrinal distinctions between institutional doctrine and individual adherents

• Historical Context and Reporting Content: Content addressing past events without advocating contemporary targeting:

  • Neutral Historical Accounts: Factual historical accounts of past occurrences (may reflect negatively on Protected Class populations without advocacy or inflammatory framing); historical claims about violence or persecution when presented as factual rather than advocating for contemporary targeting; factual historical claims connecting historical religious figures to documented practices when not used to advocate targeting current adherents; or historical claims about documented actions (even when connecting to contemporary groups) when presented as factual rather than advocating targeting
  • Historical Conflicts and Events: Comparative historical statements linking past and present events with factual focus; religious and military conflicts between Protected Classes when presented as historical fact; or conquest, colonization, or religious conversion accounts as factual historical information
  • Religious and Academic Contributions: Neutral historical claims about religious or political figures' documented actions when presented as historical fact rather than basis for targeting current adherents, or historical claims about academic or intellectual contributions without explicit derogatory language

• Individual-Focused Content: Content targeting individuals, not Protected Classes:

  • Personal Disputes and Criticism: Personal insults, crude language, or political disagreements that do not specifically target Protected Class characteristics; content expressing opinions about specific individuals' actions or fates without generalizing to Protected Classes; behavioral criticism based on actions or opinions rather than Protected Class membership; crude language about fertility, sexual function, or personal circumstances directed at individuals; crude sexual language and political accusations directed at specific individuals rather than Protected Class members; comments about violence or harm directed at specific individuals rather than Protected Class members; or crude language expressing personal preferences about relationships or interactions that does not target Protected Class characteristics
  • Individual Circumstances: Individual insults or suggestions about personal mental health, behavior, or character; questions about language ability or sarcastic suggestions about where individuals should live; or immigration status references in personal arguments when focused on individual circumstances

• Sexual and Crude Language Content: Non-hateful crude or sexual content, including sexual or romantic comments directed at individuals that do not target or reference Protected Class characteristics; content containing crude sexual language, profanity, or vulgar expressions that do not target Protected Class members; crude personal threats or sexual comments directed at specific individuals that do not target Protected Class characteristics; or automated sexual advertising or bot-generated sexual content that does not target Protected Class characteristics (including bot-generated content with automated disclaimers and promotional links for sexual services)

• Neutral Discussion and Questions Content: Non-targeting discourse:

  • Economic and Statistical Topics: Neutral questions or discussions about economic topics that do not attribute negative characteristics to Protected Class members; statistical discussions about immigration status and comparative economic questions; or questions about wealth or economic status that do not make accusations of conspiracy or manipulation
  • Entertainment and Hypothetical Content: Personal preferences about entertainment or media representation without explicit derogatory language; personal preferences about casting choices in entertainment that do not use explicit derogatory language; hypothetical questions about individual responses to political or social issues; hypothetical questions about potential responses to political disagreements (even when suggesting violence) when not specifically targeting Protected Class characteristics; or questions regarding tolerance of religious practices when they don't explicitly advocate targeting
  • Commentary and Reasoning: Questions challenging others' reasoning, logic, or sanity regarding political situations; questions challenging the logic of someone's political reasoning (even when referencing violence against Protected Class groups) when not targeting the groups themselves; or sarcastic comments about individual behavior, victim status, or geographic preferences that do not specifically target Protected Class characteristics

• Pushback Content: Content in which authors challenge, denounce, interrogate, critique, or satirize others' hateful expressions or ideologies.

• Artistic and Educational Content: Works possessing demonstrable artistic, educational, or journalistic merit that examine or represent hate speech-related subjects within educational or awareness contexts rather than hate promotion.