Unreleased Federal Report Concludes ‘No Evidence’ that Free Speech Online ‘Causes Hate Crimes’

Freedom of speech on the internet did not lead to a rise in “hate crimes,” according to a report sent from the U.S. Department of Commerce to Congress in January — a report that has yet to appear on any government website.

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The report was prepared by the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which is responsible for advising the President on all matters related to telecommunication and the internet.

It was drafted to revise the findings of a previous report from NTIA in 1993 titled The Role of Telecommunications in Hate Crimes. Although it was prepared under the Trump administration, the request to revise the report came from the 116th Congress, which was controlled by a 35-seat Democrat majority in the House and only a slim Republican majority in the Senate.

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Sources who were close to the drafting and approval process suspect that bureaucrats and establishment politicians with a vested interest in the “hate crimes” panic are trying to suppress it, because its conclusions challenge popular media narratives alleging a rise in internet-inspired hate crimes.

“Reports like this are typically made public,” said a source who worked closely with the NTIA on the report. “I don’t know why this report isn’t up on a government website yet. It’s already been submitted to Congress, it’s not a private thing anymore. I suspect the Civil Rights Division might have something to do with it.”

According to the source, who formerly worked in the Trump administration, the updated report was bitterly opposed by the Civil Rights Division, which is the part of the DoJ responsible for prosecuting hate crimes.

The Civil Rights Division, said the source, is also at the forefront of “efforts to drum up hysteria” over white nationalist extremism in the U.S. Despite its opposition, however, the report was approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and sent to Congress.

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The report bluntly states that there is no evidence of a causal relationship between the growth in internet usage and hate crimes, pointing out that there is not even any correlation, as media allegations about a surge in hate crimes over the past five years are not supported by the Justice Department’s crime statistics.

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The report also warns that efforts to clamp down on online communications over unfounded concerns about “hate crimes” will undermine First Amendment values.

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Finally, the report issues a blistering condemnation of Silicon Valley companies for using the “hate speech” panic to undermine freedom of expression on their platforms.

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