Analysis Of The Hell You Say By Kelefa Sanneh

The Controversial American Creating a safe space is more important for some rather than others. In “The Hell You Say” by Kelefa Sanneh for The New Yorker, he provides an interesting look at the views of Americans who support censorship of speech and those who are completely against it. Another issue I gathered from his article was that people use their right to free speech in wrong ways and end up harassing people. Providing two sides of a controversial debate, his article makes us think of which side we are on. So, whether or not censorship should be enforced; and how the argument for free speech is not always for the right reason, Sanneh explores this with us. The initial reaction I had after reading this article was that his tone seemed

Though, his motivation comes from exploring a topic that is quite controversial. He wants people to know that there are consequences for saying hurtful and offensive things and claiming that they have a right to do so because of the First Amendment. Using the First Amendment to excuse bad behavior is not acceptable. This is where we see harassment online because websites are rarely regulated to be sure that every user is saying things that don’t affect others. As Sanneh paraphrases what one book he references, “. . .the First Amendment is powerless to protect.” Sanneh also provides other examples of how people are harassed online, such as a story of a journalist, Lindy West, who gets called obscene things like “a fat bitch”. It’s hard to control what can be said online, which is why many people think it’s okay to say whatever they want. Most probably think it’s okay simply because they are a nobody online, and their words won’t affect anyone because it’s not directed towards

For example, he compares two opposite books. First, “The Silencing; How the Left is Killing Free Speech” by Kirsten Powers, a “liberal, Fox News Pundit” as Sanneh calls her. And second, “End of Discussion: How the Left’s Outrage Industry Shuts Down Debate, Manipulates Voters, and Makes America Less Free (and Fun)” by Mary Katharine Ham and Guy Benson. Sanneh implies that Powers has strong opinions of what people should be allowed to say whereas Ham and Benson claim that people get needlessly offended over small things and decide to fight everyone about