Who Decides?

The FBI has a very clear classification for a hate crime and hate is considered as any crime, which is motivated with a sexual, racial, national, religious, personal or a bias towards a personal disability. The requirement for a crime to be considered as a hate crime is the inclusion of a bias. There is no basic or a generic criteria for a hate crime and it differs, but generally the FBI classification is considered as the "industry standard".

It is impossible to move beyond the scope of a bias and if that is the actus rea of a hate crime, then pretty much everything comes under the all purpose banner of a hate crime. Bias and prejudice are human emotions and will always be present and humans will be always biased. Prejudice and the word associated with it, has been twisted beyond its original intention. Prejudice simply means to pre-judge; to have an opinion and an opinion always lends to a bias. Hence, bias is then a opinion based on a personal judgement of a situation and the ability to judge before hand.

There is nothing wrong with this statement, because life is prejudiced and bias, defined in such a manner, can be found in any form of media - print or electronic or both. The New York Times’ editorial can be considered as biased, because it tends to make an opinion before all the facts are considered. Any news paper in the world can be considered biased and prejudiced, because the business of a new paper or a magazine is to report the news and since they have no benefit of a hindsight, their observations will always be prejudiced. The only way to avoid prejudice and bias is to have hindsight and thus, base the story on objective reporting of the facts. This is impossible and will never happen.

The only other possibility might be, if a bias and prejudice actually incite a reaction or a action based with the intent to carry out a particular bias.

Chowk, under the FBI classification, is a site devoted to hate crimes, because it incites bias on basis of attacking religion, personalities and slurs ones’ ethnic or national and racial backgrounds.

Does Chowk incite violence based on its perpetuation of biases?

The discourse on Chowk is filled with fear and it may not incite violence, but it sure does instill hatred. Hatred on Chowk is tangible and it is omni-present; hate is the defining characteristic of Chowk and it always was, because Chowk’s motto has mutated into unfliching intolerance.

Chowk is devoted to the idea of idealism and it supports the claim that all are welcome to come, think and write and speak on this site. This is the hallmark not of idealism per se, but unfettered right to free expression. Freedom of speech is always limited in the most free of societies not by laws, but the ability of a person to tolerate what is being uttered. Freedom of speech is only free to an extent as long as a person is willing to tolerate it and once it becomes intolerable, it ceases to be free.

Consequently, the question is who decides what is free and what is not a free speech? The editors of Chowk? The people, who lurk in the alleys of Chowk? Who? Who decides when speech and it attendent expressions on Chowk cease to be free speech and become acts of hate speech? Who? Who decides what is tolerable and what is not? Who, the editors of Chowk? Do we decide upon ourselves to assume the responsibility to define and resist the hate mongers amongst us? Are we capable of deciding what is hate and what is not hate speech on Chowk, given our own biases?

Is Chowk a site then devoted to hate crimes against its interactors? The FBI certainly thinks that Chowk is a site of hate crimes on the internet, because it incites hatred based on one’s religion, ethnic, racial, national and personal backgrounds. Chowk is certainly biased to the core and its interactors are all biased in their opinions and thus, can be considered as prejudiced.

The next question is who is going to inform the FBI about Chowk and its content of hatred? Chowk is incorporated in the United States and thus, comes under the laws of the United States’ governing free speech and free expression. FBI investigates the majority of the hate crimes in the United States and monitors the sites on the Internet, but they have to be informed about Chowk before this site can be monitored.

Who wants to inform the FBI?