Cyberspace hate speech is protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Though this protected freedom allows for the flow of ideas and expression, its purpose is to spread awareness of negativity and may even provoke violence and crime. The key to protected free speech is not to censor it, but to ensure that such negativity does not cause harm to others. The problem is the complex dynamic that cyberspaces cannot establish necessary legal rules, for example time and place criterion. The objective of this research is to set a parameter for cyberspace hate speech content regulation in the form of public opinion: should the federal government be allowed to monitor such sites or should a party other than the federal government take on this challenge? The study is intended to understand the history of content regulation in regards to hate speech in particular to past attempts of censorship; how content regulation works; and to understand the changing attitudes surrounding cyberspace hate speech. This research is to be foundational in an attempt to protect people from unwanted hate content and decrease the potential for violence relating to hate speech.

In a nation-wide study, a self-designed instrument was used to gauge the opinions of the academic community. The results were both predictable and surprising as different generations expressed different points of view towards hate speech and cyberspace hate content.

It is with awareness and education that the findings of this study can begin the improvement of law to catch up with technology and provide awareness of the types of hate speech that is found on the Internet. With history, examples of legal cases, evolving perceptions, and scholarly literature, this research will be able to inform the reader in understanding cyberspace hate speech in a comprehensive light.