harms democratic values by expanding and reproducing the social structure of
exclusion and oppression based on discrimination.
As such, recent focus has been placed on expressions of hatred or behaviors
that express hatred and discrimination, which have been on the rise in Korea
recently. Major causes of the spread of hate speech include the rapid polarization
of Korean society since the 1997 monetary crisis and the concurrent rise of the
information society. In addition, with the rise of the Internet as a major stage for
political activities since the presidential elections of 2002, hate speech has been
used as a political tool on the Internet and has been spread and reproduced in
society.
However, there are no established countermeasures for hate speech, although
it is publicly expanded and spread. Critical opinions have been provided by
public groups that request society to react to the hate phenomenon. Ultimately,
it is necessary to reduce economic and social inequality and polarization, which
are the foundations of hatred. First, however, there should be reactions towards
hate itself, which violates the dignity of humans and blocks the development of
a democratic society.
The purpose of this report is to provide a starting point for such a
response. Much criticism of hate speech has been provided by the public
and academia, and topical analyses of the matter have been conducted.
However, no discussions have been fundamentally effective in addressing
the hate phenomenon. Therefore, this report provides the foundation for
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