The paper first differentiates hate speech from adjacent legal issues (e.g. threats, insults) and inappropriate communication (e.g. indecent language). In the empirical part the perception of online hate speech among Slovenian Internet users is analysed. The results indicate that users are bothered by problematic communication; however, they understand the notion of hate speech very vaguely. On one hand, the majority of users do not recognise it while, on the other, they often associate it with issues which cannot be prosecuted as hate speech. Finally, the results are discussed in the context of efforts to create better hate speech regulation and understanding
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