Mindful
Diamond Member
- Banned
- #1
We need to fight back against the new censorship or risk losing the most precious liberty of all.
In 2012, I wrote Censored, a short book on hate-speech laws in Europe, and the imminent threat they pose to freedom of speech. Four years later, a second edition was needed. There were more laws, more cases to report, and a radically changing legal landscape. And in the four years since then, Europe’s march towards censorship has continued unabated. Not so much a ‘slippery slope’ – more a running jump.
Vaguely worded and arbitrarily enforced ‘hate speech’ codes have been adopted by Big Tech without discussion or any real public consultation. National governments have started threatening online social-media platforms with crippling fines if they don’t censor speech. And many leading universities are now proud to tout their censorship credentials – banning speakers and silencing their students. Without doubt, the increasingly shrill, you-can’t-say-that culture, with its love for No Platforming, cancelling, boycotting and severely punishing dissenters, has arrived in force.
Europe: death by censorship
In 2012, I wrote Censored, a short book on hate-speech laws in Europe, and the imminent threat they pose to freedom of speech. Four years later, a second edition was needed. There were more laws, more cases to report, and a radically changing legal landscape. And in the four years since then, Europe’s march towards censorship has continued unabated. Not so much a ‘slippery slope’ – more a running jump.
Vaguely worded and arbitrarily enforced ‘hate speech’ codes have been adopted by Big Tech without discussion or any real public consultation. National governments have started threatening online social-media platforms with crippling fines if they don’t censor speech. And many leading universities are now proud to tout their censorship credentials – banning speakers and silencing their students. Without doubt, the increasingly shrill, you-can’t-say-that culture, with its love for No Platforming, cancelling, boycotting and severely punishing dissenters, has arrived in force.
Europe: death by censorship