Hate speech is defined as a serious attack on a group or individual based on their race, ethnicity, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, sex, religion, caste, serious medical condition, or disability. This includes the use of slurs in a disparaging way, as well as content that dehumanizes or calls for violence, exclusion, or segregation of protected classes.
Examples include:
Statements like “[insert race/ethnicity] are not welcome in our country”
Statements like “[insert religious group] are parasites”
The use of racial slurs in a disparaging way
Denial of the following events, in which protected classes were the primary targets, is prohibited: the Holocaust and Armenian Genocide.
Step 1:
Does the content mention a protected class (a group or individual’s race, ethnicity, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, sex, religion, caste, medical condition, or disability)?
If yes: proceed to Step 2
If no:
Does the content contain the use of slurs in a disparaging way?
If yes, label as Hate Speech.
If no, check for other policy violations. If other policy violations exist, label according to corresponding policy violation.
If no other policy violations exist, label as OK
Step 2:
Does the content contain any of the following?
Calls for violence towards a protected class
Calls for exclusion of a protected class
Calls for segregation of a protected class
Note: this excludes legal sex segregation in areas such as bathrooms, sports, prisons, and certain types of housing, etc.
Content that dehumanizes a protected class
The use of slurs in a disparaging way
If yes, label as Hate Speech
If no, check for other policy violations. If other policy violations exist, label according to corresponding policy violation.
If no other policy violations exist, label as OK
Hate speech on Quora refers to any content that contains a serious attack on a group or individual based on their race, ethnicity, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, sex, religion, caste, medical condition, or disability (these categories are referred to as protected classes).
A serious attack =
Calling for violence towards a protected class
Calling for exclusion of a protected class
Calling for segregation of a protected class
Note: this excludes legal sex segregation in areas such as bathrooms, sports, prisons, and certain types of housing, etc.
Content that dehumanizes a protected class
The use of slurs in a disparaging way
Note for when multiple categories are involved:
Protected Class + Protected Class = Protected Class
E.g.: Asian Women, Jewish Men, Gay Christians, Black Americans
These should be treated the same as regular protected classes
Protected Class + Unprotected Class = only protected against for calls for violence, exclusion, or segregation (excluding legal sex segregation)
E.g.: Italian voters, Arab teachers, female drivers, bisexual athletes
Marking content as Hate Speech will delete the content.
Denial of the following events is also considered hate speech:
Holocaust
Armenian genocide
Examples of hate speech
“We need to get rid of Hispanics, they are invading the country”
Calls for exclusion of a protected class
“Why are you a subhuman nigger?”
Uses a slur in a disparaging way, and dehumanizes a protected class
“White and 18 years old. If the United States was truly a racist country than why aren’t all of us White people segregating from the annoying Asians Fuck That? “Asian” == “Annoying”?“
Calls for segregation of a protected class
Examples of content that would not be considered hate speech
“You’re only saying that because you’re [insert race/ethnicity]”
“Why do white liberal college students in the USA hate their race so much?”
“What if the world only had Black/African people?”
None of these examples contain serious attacks on protected classes. There are no calls for violence, exclusion, or segregation towards the protected classes as well as no dehumanizing language or slurs used in a disparaging way.
Examples of hate speech
“if i see you transfreak try using other Gender’s room you will die & you are worse than flat earther you deny Gender & your mental disorder isn’t gender YOU FREAK”
Calls for violence towards a protected class and dehumanizes a protected class (freak, in this context, is used to dehumanize transgender individuals)
“Trans Nazi SCUM surrounded Nadhim Zahawi and ranted and raged at him, shrieking in girlie voices that he is "Tory scum". Are they despicable and does anyone support their freak show?"
Dehumanizes a protected class (comparison to “scum” is dehumanizing and in this context, “freak show” is referring to the protected class)
Examples of content that would not be considered hate speech
“What does non-binary even mean?”
“There are only 2 genders”
"It isn’t bigoted for women to want their own spaces in bathrooms and locker rooms."
"Men cannot be women."
"Why don't trans people realize they don't have the right to use other gender spaces? Your gender is your biological sex."
"What would be the benefits to society of reclassifying transgenderism as a type of mental illness?"
"Men who feel like women are more likely to be sex offenders"
"Why are there still some people who deny there are only two genders based on your biology not culture?"
"Biological men should not be allowed in women's prisons regardless of their "identity""
Note: We understand gender is an evolving topic, and want to allow discussion about such topics while also protecting individuals. Topics debating matters such as transgender athlete participation in sex-segregated sports as well as discussions about pronouns and gender identity are permitted as long as they do not contain other attacks on an individual or group based on their sex or gender. Content containing dehumanizing language towards a protected class (including referring to a protected class as “it”) should be marked as hate speech. Any content calling for violence, exclusion, or segregation (excluding legal sex segregation in areas such as bathrooms, sports, prisons, and certain types of housing, etc.) should be marked as hate speech.
Examples of hate speech
“All [insert nationality] are criminals/rapists”
Stating that all members of a protected class are criminals or sexual predators is considered dehumanizing.
“Syrians are dirty parasites.”
Dehumanizes a protected class by comparing them to parasites.
“Ukranians all deserve to be killed by the Russians”
Calls for violence towards a protected class
“Mexicans are not welcome in this country”
Calls for exclusion of a protected class
Examples of content that would not be considered hate speech
“Do people from the UK and Australia view Americans as native English speakers? Are they? Americans are thought of as very poor at English.”
Being poor at English would not qualify as a serious attack.
“Is India a shithole for women?”
This is targeting a country, and not a protected class
“I keep getting 2-week bans on Quora for perfectly sensible questions. Is Quora run by the Irish?”
This is too indirect to violate and would not qualify as a serious attack.
“Why do Americans shoot innocent people?”
This is not dehumanizing or calling for violence, segregation or exclusion of a protected class.
“pakistani likes to change father every few years current father is china, pakistan is a rent seeking state currently being rented by china against india” (answer in response to question, “Do Pakistani people not realize that China is going to take over Pakistan some day and their faith would be similar to Uyghurs Muslims? What makes Pakistani Muslims think that China is a friend? Do they not know about Uyghurs Muslim camps?”)
There are no serious attacks towards a protected class in this answer (“changing fathers every few years” would not qualify as a serious attack).
Other exceptions include statements involving wars/military actions, such as, "I hope the Ukrainians kill the Russian invaders" (in this context, this is referring to Russia’s known military invasion of Ukraine, and would not be considered a threat of violence towards Russian civilians/Russians as a whole).
Examples of hate speech
“These fags are taking over our city”
Use of a slur in a disparaging way
“LGBTQ individuals should not be allowed to run for office”
Calls for exclusion of a protected class
Examples of content that would not be considered hate speech
“Lesbians like softball”
“Do all gay guys act like girls?”
Neither of these examples would qualify as a serious attack (no calls for violence, exclusion, or segregation of a protected class and they are not dehumanizing or using slurs in a disparaging way)
Examples of hate speech
“There is no reason to talk about girls and absolutely no interest in talking about them. The only reason for their existence is to give birth and satisfy male sexual needs. What else is there to talk about?”
“The only reason for their existence is to give birth and satisfy male sexual needs” would be considered dehumanizing to a protected class
“Men shouldn’t be allowed to vote”
Calls for exclusion of a protected class
“Women shouldn’t be allowed to attend college, they belong in the kitchen.”
Calls for exclusion of a protected class
“Should all males be locked in chastity from the age of 13 to prevent toxic masculinity, rapes, harassment, etc… and make the world a better place overall?”
Calls for exclusion/segregation of a protected class
Examples of content that would not be considered hate speech
“If women want gender equality, why do a lot of them say or assume "every man is a potential rapist" instead of "all humans are potential rapists"?
This does not contain a serious attack (OP is expressing their views on what they believe others say or assume)
“Do you think if the government stopped forcing men to pay child support that women would stop forcing men to be parents?”
There is no serious attack in this question; the accusation of “forcing men to be parents” would not qualify as a serious attack.
“Nothing is wrong with them. your perspective is wrong. Girls have many restrictions just to control them when they oppose to follow, u guys blame them, slut shame them for silly things etc. But the truth is they r humans too. They can have dreams, goals, fantasies etc. Modren girls are realising their worth and that hurt your Male ego and u r asking what is wrong with them. Women rights are human rights too. Masculinity is cool but toxic masculinity is illness.”(answer in response to, “What is wrong with Indian girls?”)
This answer is primarily defending a protected class, and contains no serious attacks. “Toxic masculinity” would not be considered a protected class, so describing toxic masculinity as illness would not qualify as a serious attack on a protected class.
Examples of hate speech
“Christians are all brainless idiots and shouldn’t be allowed to vote.”
Calls for exclusion (“shouldn’t be allowed to vote”) and dehumanizes a protected class (calling Christians brainless)
“Muslims are barbaric and invading Europe, we need to stop them”
Dehumanizes a protected class (“barbaric” implies savage and bestial, which is dehumanizing)
“I finally fell in love with Hitler's book. Everything he says makes sense and is true. Do you agree?”
This endorses Hitler’s well known views that call for violence, segregation, and exclusion of protected classes.
Examples of content that would not be considered hate speech
“Christianity is idiotic”
“Islam is a barbaric religion”
“it is false religion because we can find elephant head with human body god called ganesha. Practically it is impossible. Vishnu turns out mohini means lady avatar, scientifically it is not possible in those times and have a sex with shiva and both r giving birth to a child. Flying monkey carrying a big mountain. Bramha born from vishnu navel. Look at this stories.. Practically, all this stories are considered to be a mythology. But people are believing it as happened in history.. It is very wrong. According to science and Prophets, all these are fake.”(answer, in response to “Is Hinduism a false religion?”)
All of these examples above would not be considered hate speech because they target the religion and not the followers of the religion. Religions/ideologies are not protected classes.
Note: Castes are now considered a protected class for ALL silos. This will only be enforced for the five major Indian castes — Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra, and Dalit.
Examples of hate speech
“All vaishyas should be put to death.”
Calls for violence/exclusion of a protected class
“Shudras should not be allowed at public parks.”
Calls for exclusion of a protected class
Examples of content that would not be considered hate speech
“What is it like to be from the shudra caste?”
“Are those from the lower castes of India discriminated against?”
“Many disadvantages are faced for being Brahmins in India. Brahmins are not allowed to enter into temples. When Brahmins cook foods, people show hesitation to eat and throw it in the dustbin. Brahmins are not given proper education and are thrown outside of the Education institution and they don’t have any knowledge about foreign education. They are not given homes for rent because of being Brahmin. Brahmins die while cleaning the Sewer. When water is offered by the brahmin, People avoid drinking it. Brahmins are the People who follow Brahminism., Where Brahmins are considered as Lower Caste and Other Castes are higher caste. Brahmins do not show or encourage any kind of Pride for being born as Brahmins. Still there are many disadvantages for being a brahmin in India.” (answer in response to the question, “Have you faced any disadvantage being a Brahmin?”)
None of these examples contain serious attacks. The last example describes the author’s take on the disadvantages Brahmins face in India (this doesn’t reflect how the author feels Brahmins should be treated).
Examples of hate speech
“Diabetics are a waste of our resources, just let these fatties die out.”
Calls for exclusion of a protected class
“You should never hire someone with a chronic medical condition”
Calls for exclusion of a protected class
Examples of content that would not be considered hate speech
“Cancer is a terrible disease”
“We need to end Alzheimers”
Medical conditions/diseases themselves are not considered protected classes
Examples of hate speech
“Kids with learning disabilities shouldn’t be allowed in our classrooms”
Calls for exclusion/segregation of a protected class
“Would curing autism help America's national debt? These retards cost this country $200 billion a year.”
In this example, “retards” is used to dehumanize individuals with disabilities.
“The disabled are unworthy of life”
Calls for exclusion and dehumanizes a protected class
Examples of content that would not be considered hate speech
“Schizophrenia is awful”
“Having a disability sucks. It makes going through life hard.”
These are referring to disabilities (not people with disabilities).
The use of terms such as “retard” and similar variants when not directed at, or used to disparage individuals with disabilities. This includes common crude political speech terms such as libtard, conserva-tard, etc.
“This is retarded”
“Libtards would not support this”
“What if the FBI-CIA knows disqualifying things about a President, but then the conserva-tards will suppress it if the Pres. is a Republican, and the liber-tards will suppress it if the Pres. is a Democrat. Why censor, esp. after the Haines audit(s)?”
Slurs are derogatory terms that disparage an entire protected class. When used in a disparaging way, slurs are considered hate speech. Note that the discussion of slurs in a non-disparaging way would not be considered hate speech, such as discussing the origin of a term, or discussing personal experiences about being called a slur, etc. Note that some terms may have multiple meanings and would only be considered hate speech when used in certain contexts. An example of this would be “tranny”, which is commonly used as a slur to disparage transgender individuals (this would be hate speech), but at times may be referring to a car’s transmission (e.g., “My car’s tranny needs repair”), which would not be considered hate speech. Context should be considered to evaluate whether or not a slur is being used in a disparaging way.
Slurs:
Ape (when referring to black people)
Ching Chong
Chink (note: use of this term as a crack/opening, or a high pitched ringing sound is ok, such as “a chink of light”, “chinking glasses”, or the phrase “chink in one’s armor” which refers to an area of vulnerability)
Gook
Jap
Nigger
Paki
Redskin (references to sports teams is ok)
Wetback
Tranny (references to car transmission/car “tranny” is ok)
Faggot, fag (references to cigarettes is ok)
Kike
Raghead or Towelhead
Examples of hate speech
“Now that we're getting rid of the kike York abortion massacre of the white race, now its time to send the n!ggers up to kike York too, how does that sound to ya, yankee kike boy?”
“You are a wetback”
“There are too many ragheads in this country”
“Shut up, tranny”
“You’re such a fag"
“He’s a dirty Chink”
Examples of content that would not be considered hate speech
“I was called a wetback nonstop growing up”
“Where did the term “raghead” originate?”
“My car’s tranny needs repair.”
“I’m going to smoke a fag on my break” (referring to a cigarette)
“He’s usually good at debates but his lack of ability to speak calmly is the chink in his armor”
“It's equal of calling a black person a nigger, given the cultural context of the word. So yeah, it's offensive.” (answer to question, “Do Indonesians feel offended when Malaysians refer to them as “orang indon”? If so, why? We never meant it as an insult though. It's just a short form of Indonesia, similar to saying, tux for tuxedo.”)
“In 1941, Life Magazine published an article titled ‘How to Tell Japs From The Chinese’”
Slurs used in historical quotes (so long as they are not being glorified)
Content that dehumanizes a protected class refers to any content that deprives a protected class of human qualities, such as:
Claims that a protected class is barbaric, subhuman, un-evolved, or incapable of basic human qualities or mental functions such as reasoning.
Claims that all members of a protected class are criminals or sexual predators (e.g., rapists).
Derogatory comparisons of protected classes to insects, parasites, garbage, filth, or animals that are typically deemed “dirty” or insulting (e.g., pigs or rats), or referring to a protected class as “it”.
Examples of hate speech
“[Insert protected class] are barbaric, subhuman, garbage, parasites, etc.”
“All [insert protected class] are criminals.”
Referring to transgender individuals as “it”
Referring to individuals with disabilities as “retards”
Examples of content that would not be considered hate speech
“Why are Russians so badly dressed and boring?”
This wouldn’t reach the threshold for dehumanizing. While somewhat insulting, “badly dressed” refers to fashion and “boring” would not be severe enough to reach the threshold for dehumanizing.
“Why are most of Indian girls short?”
Short is not inherently negative, and would not be considered dehumanizing.
“British people have bad teeth”
Though insulting, this wouldn’t reach the threshold for a serious attack (this is not dehumanizing or calling for violence, segregation, or exclusion of a protected class)
Denial of the following is considered hate speech: the Holocaust and Armenian genocide.
Examples of hate speech
“Do so many people hate Jews because of the fictional Holocaust tale, or are there other reasons?”
“The Armenian genocide is a complete myth, the mass killings were a made up lie.”