Separate idea, more to the point–is it better for hate speech to stay out in the open on Twitter?
Shortly after Obama won the 2008 election, the sales director where I worked visited some companies in Arkansas. She was flabbergasted to hear management at those companies use the N-word right out in their showrooms. This is because she’s entirely encased by a sphere of more-or-less likeminded friends and family. She thought the days when people were openly and viciously racist had gone by.
Trump tapped into this nasty undercurrent in the US in a big way, and I think a lot of us were caught off guard. So maybe it’s better for this nastiness to be out where we can see it and meet it head on, rather than shushing it. Or maybe not.
