RE: Who Decides What Truly Counts as Hate Speech?

Too often hate speech is just "anything that disagrees with the ruling authority's agenda". But then I'm a bit of a free speech absolutist. I think every viewpoint (however much I may disagree with it personally) is better expressed than suppressed.

But as a matter of courtesy, those viewpoints should then be up for civilised debate. I firmly believe that discussing something openly is the best way to flush out any logical inconsistencies, thus disarming the more disagreeable views. Banning discussion doesn't stop people believing things, it just allows bad things to fester when challenging them might lead to a solution, compromise or at least a dignified agreement to disagree.