Authorities in Los Angeles County are operating an ideologically charged tip line that encourages citizens to report one another to the government for non-criminal “hate incidents.” The project, called “LA vs Hate,” was founded in 2020 and is backed by a handful of corporate sponsors.
LA vs Hate describes itself as a “community-centered creative campaign to encourage and support all residents of Los Angeles County to unite against, report, and resist hate.” The program relies on anonymous reporting online or through a tip line, 211 LA, and is not affiliated with law enforcement.
The organization operates under the authority of the County of Los Angeles Commission on Human Relations and enjoys backing from Kaiser Permanente, Blue Shield of California, and other nonprofits and corporate organizations. It also receives financial support from the American Rescue Plan and local governmental departments.
Despite being central to its mission, the term “hate” is not clearly defined anywhere on the group’s website. Nevertheless, its materials are scattered with ideological indicators. A series produced by LA vs Hate and 211 LA, called “Exploring Justice,” includes videos to “challenge our own prejudices by educating ourselves on social justice topics and issues that many are still experiencing today,” with topics like “Privilege and Oppression,” “Intersectionality,” and “Racial Justice.” They also tout merchandise and graphics with pro-trans and BLM messaging.
Asked by The Federalist whether disagreement with trans ideology and the Black Lives Matter movement — both of which are featured approvingly on the project’s website — would constitute “hate,” the group declined to respond.
LA vs Hate encourages people to report “hate crimes” and “hate violence,” both of which are defined to include illegal offenses on the group’s website. Critically, however, Angelenos are also told to report “hate incidents,” defined on the site as “an action or behavior motivated by hate but which, for one or more reasons, is not a crime.” Listed examples of “hate incidents” include name-calling, insults, displaying so-called hate material on your own property, posting alleged hate material that does not result in property damage, and distributing materials with hate messages in public spaces.
LA vs Hate did not provide a public definition of “hate” or respond to The Federalist with a definition when asked. Taxpayers, Christians, and Angelenos outside the far left should be troubled by this ambiguity, given recent efforts to use overly broad definitions of hate to smear and punish political opponents.
The left routinely weaponizes shame in the name of crushing everything they deem “hate.” Most recently, Jordan Peterson has been the subject of attacks from the College of Psychologists of Ontario, and ordered to either “submit to social media communication retraining or face a disciplinary hearing and possible suspension of [his] clinical license and the right to represent [himself] as a psychologist.” This is in response to Peterson’s positions on social and political issues such as transgenderism — even though Peterson’s opinions fall well within the mainstream.
But nobody is ideologically immune. Cancellation knows no political bounds, with Joe Rogan and more liberal figures like J.K. Rowling at the forefront. Both were found guilty of common sense, resisting the transgender norms the left is trying to cement into our society. These cases all point to a shifting Overton window.
The tip line is not affiliated with law enforcement, so it poses the question: Why bother reporting so-called “hate”? The LA vs Hate website claims reporting is used so “communities can respond with appropriate resources and support” in response to actions “motivated by hostile prejudice.” The ambiguity is intentional but transparent. These tip lines are unenforceable snitch lines that police opinions and dissent with the most effective method: shame.
Inez Stepman, Independent Women’s Forum senior policy analyst, said LA vs Hate is the hallmark of a leftist overhauling of institutions. Stepman said, “The greatest conceit of conservatives for the last 30 years has been that they can allow the left to take over every educational and culture-producing institution and that ‘life’ would teach indoctrinated generations better in ‘the real world.’ Well, here’s your real world, we all live on campus now.”
In addition to its government funding and corporate sponsors, LA vs Hate is supported by the Anti-Defamation League and Taskforce, an organization that partners with the United Nations, Google, Microsoft, and YouTube. 211 LA is funded by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, “contracts with the state of California,” and the National Institutes of Health.
George Orwell describes this state of inescapable orthodoxy best: “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — for ever.”
