Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee has introduced a bill aimed toward fighting “white supremacy” by attaching criminal charges to certain types of hate speech.
The Democratic congresswoman introduced the Leading Against White Supremacy Act of 2023, which goals “to forestall and prosecute white supremacy inspired hate crime and conspiracy to commit white supremacy inspired hate crime.”
The conspiracy addition means individuals who use hate speech online could face criminal charges under the laws even in the event that they don’t act on their threats.
That features a one who publishes “material advancing white supremacy, white supremacist ideology, antagonism based on ‘substitute theory,’ or hate speech that vilifies or is otherwise directed against any non-white person or group.”
The text of the bill specifically lists social media platforms as one area where hate speech could end in criminal consequences — if that hate speech motivates one other person to exit and commit a racist crime against others.
“Mass shootings and other hate crimes motivated by white supremacy have been increasing in frequency and intensity,” the bill states. “These heinous and virulent crimes are inspired by conspiracy theories, blatant bigotry and mythical falsehoods comparable to ‘substitute theory.’ All instances have to be prevented and severe criminal penalties have to be applied to their perpetrators.”
In essentially the most recent hate-fueled mass shooting, a 19-year-old white supremacist gunned down 10 people inside a Buffalo supermarket in a predominantly black neighborhood which he targeted for its demographics.
Before the May massacre, the teenager posted a racist manifesto online planning the attack because he cared “for the long run of the white race,” prosecutors said.
He pleaded guilty to the murders in November.
It’s unlikely Jackson Lee’s laws will pass a Republican-controlled chamber.
Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee has introduced a bill aimed toward fighting “white supremacy” by attaching criminal charges to certain types of hate speech.
The Democratic congresswoman introduced the Leading Against White Supremacy Act of 2023, which goals “to forestall and prosecute white supremacy inspired hate crime and conspiracy to commit white supremacy inspired hate crime.”
The conspiracy addition means individuals who use hate speech online could face criminal charges under the laws even in the event that they don’t act on their threats.
That features a one who publishes “material advancing white supremacy, white supremacist ideology, antagonism based on ‘substitute theory,’ or hate speech that vilifies or is otherwise directed against any non-white person or group.”
The text of the bill specifically lists social media platforms as one area where hate speech could end in criminal consequences — if that hate speech motivates one other person to exit and commit a racist crime against others.
“Mass shootings and other hate crimes motivated by white supremacy have been increasing in frequency and intensity,” the bill states. “These heinous and virulent crimes are inspired by conspiracy theories, blatant bigotry and mythical falsehoods comparable to ‘substitute theory.’ All instances have to be prevented and severe criminal penalties have to be applied to their perpetrators.”
In essentially the most recent hate-fueled mass shooting, a 19-year-old white supremacist gunned down 10 people inside a Buffalo supermarket in a predominantly black neighborhood which he targeted for its demographics.
Before the May massacre, the teenager posted a racist manifesto online planning the attack because he cared “for the long run of the white race,” prosecutors said.
He pleaded guilty to the murders in November.
It’s unlikely Jackson Lee’s laws will pass a Republican-controlled chamber.
