Hate Speech is not a recent development but the advent of new internet- enabled devices has made the production and dissemination of hate speech easier and faster. As society grapples with how to deal with the phenomenon, the need to define and contextualise hate speech has become imperative. This paper is therefore a critical analysis of the issues and approaches in dealing with hate speech. The paper argues that proper contextualisation of the phenomenon will provide a better insight into how to effectively deal with hate speech. Lack of appropriate sanctions to the increasing dynamism of the communication technology will continue to pose serious challenges in the emergence of hate speech. The paper recommends that the media industry need to be more alive to the core professional requirements of gatekeeping and training institutions should give due space to conflict-sensitive reporting in their curricula.