Hate speech -

'is a term for speech intended to degrade, intimidate, or incite violence or prejudicial action against a person or group of people based on their race, gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, language ability, moral or political views, socioeconomic class, occupation or appearance (such as height, weight, and hair color), mental capacity and any other distinction-liability.'
(source: Wikipedia)

There's nothing new about hate speech, of course, but the Internet strikes some as an easy and effective way to distribute odious messages.

Additionally -
'The line between hate speech and free speech is a thin one, and different countries have different levels of tolerance.
The line is even thinner on the Internet, where hateful comments posted lawfully in one country can be read in other countries where they may be deemed unlawful.'

This leads to the question posed on the media awareness network

'If anything makes the Internet different from other types of speech it is the relative ease with which the few can reach the many.
Should we modify our view of freedom of speech in a world where a Web page published by anyone can be viewed by millions, where an email spam can reach thousands?'

It is obvious from some peoples reactions to recent hate speech on threads that they hold sincere and strongly held beliefs about the free flow of discourse and/or discord; however, Cyberspace still remains a part of society with norms and mores.
This is particularly true, I believe, for a 'community' such as mudcat

There is various advice on how to deal with hate mongers from

"One horselaugh is worth ten thousand syllogisms."

to

"Don't engage in public debate/discussions with hatemongers. This spurs them on and helps to legitimize them."

When posting on a thread is the medium, figuring out how and whether to post back can be a challenge as possibly a lack of social/verbal skills by the perpetrators seems to result in nasty personal attacks or escalation of the original repulsive opinions.