Some thoughts on incitement to violence

An excerpt from my book “Free Speech and Why It Matters”.

Perhaps the most compelling argument for restrictions on speech is that words might lead directly to bloodshed. If it can be determined that certain forms of speech incite violence, then there is a case to be made that responsibility is thereby shared between the perpetrator of the crime and the individual who provoked it. 

The Rwandan genocide of 1994 i…