If your site is considered dubious, dangerous, deranged – take your pick – you’ll be closed down. It’s happening now and the idea of free speech is denied in the process. Without free speech democracy is a sham.
Who decides what is dubious, dangerous or deranged – not you or I – and why is it that political free speech is targeted but porn is not? – rhetorical question, of course, but closing down sites doesn’t close down thought.
Awhile ago I was involved with a site on which many subjects not normally touched were discussed. One was the holocaust, a subject to which the ‘far right’ - by which I mean the modern day fascists - are drawn. Some deny the holocaust itself, others question the numbers killed and others will suggest that the Zionists were largely responsible for the deaths in order to gain sympathy for the concept of a Jewish State. Much of what was written was ‘hate speech’, pure and simple, and my input was perhaps more rational or balanced than the ‘I hate …’ comments. The point being that I probably changed nobody’s mind about the subject but who knows? …. either way that murky subject will continue to be discussed and I’d rather see it happen openly than otherwise. I have to add that holocausts aren’t a Jewish matter, Cambodia, Rwanda come to mind as equally deserving of the name ‘holocaust’ …. and, of course, a slow holocaust continues to happen to the Palestinians and it’s playing with words to suggest otherwise.
Fascists – ah – there’s a label few appreciate being called but how else are those who favour a totalitarian order within society to be described. The irony here is that fascists swarm to the higher levels of politics like flies to a carcass. Neo Nazi thugs may make the news by their presence on the streets but their counterparts are often the well dressed politicians disguising themselves as ‘Democrats’ or ‘Republicans.’
Not so?