Everyone has the right to freedom of speech, but no one has the right to freedom from speech. I disagree with a lot of people about a lot of things, but they’re free to say whatever they want to say whenever they want to say it (except at work and in other places that need rules of etiquette for pragmatic reasons).
Unless speech directly incites violence, it should be protected. If we prohibit speech that is racist, sexist, or homophobic, will it end there? The slippery slope may be a logical fallacy, but it is also sometimes a reality: If we ban what offends us, that prods more sensitive people to try to ban what offends them, and on and on, ad infinitum.
If a person is racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, or anti-Virion, I see that as a character flaw. But it’s a character flaw that people are free to share with others who share that flaw (I swear that sentence made sense before I wrote it down).
Dr Sebby <drsebby@hotmail.com> wrote:
....no way should they be censored. i think we all know where this sort of
thing leads. at the end of all contemplation is the final question;
"who shall be the judge? who shall proclaim the definitions?"
DrSebby.
"Courage...and shuffle the cards".
----Original Message Follows----
From: David McFadzean
Reply-To: virus@lucifer.com
To: virus
Subject: virus: International conference targets Internet hate speech
Date: Fri, 18 Jun 2004 08:53:01 -0400
Vector: absa on #virus
PARIS, France (AP) -- European neo-Nazis post online pictures of
paint-smeared mosques. Web sites of Islamic radicals call for holy war on
the West. Aliases like "Jew Killer" pop up on Internet game sites.
International experts met Wednesday in Paris to tackle the tricky task
of
fighting anti-Semitic, racist and xenophobic propaganda on the Internet --
seen as a chief factor in a rise in hate crime.
more at
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/06/17/online.hate.ap/index.html
I'd be interested to know how others here would answer this question: Should
some groups be censored?
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