Our First Amendment Rights Online
Posted December 31st, 2008 at 3.19pm in American Leadership.
China has been rightly criticized for censoring speech on the Internet. It is the one major economy in which the government has denied free speech and free access online. But this could change if the Orwellian-sounding “Minister of Culture” in Britain gets his way. The Minister, Andy Burnham, would like to see at least film-style ratings, and possibly outright censorship, imposed upon the Internet internationally.
He is “planning to negotiate with Barack Obama’s incoming American administration to draw up new international rules for English language websites.”
He is very clear what this means: the end of the free speech zone that the Internet has represented until now.
“If you look back at the people who created the internet they talked very deliberately about creating a space that Governments couldn’t reach. I think we are having to revisit that stuff seriously now.”
If film-like controls are not enough, outright censorship is an option this Minister appears ready to consider: the paper commented, Internet Service Providers “could also be forced to offer internet services where the only websites accessible are those deemed suitable for children.”
But ISPs like AOL already offer filters and other services for parents, similar to television parental controls that prevent children from watching adult cable channels, to regulate what children can view. The government should not interfere in the bastion of free speech which the Internet represents. In the free market, speech can be free and simultaneously parents can regulate what their children can access. Government need not protect us from ourselves by censoring our speech.
- Author: Guinevere Nell
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December 31, 2008 W Howard Baker, Bardstown, KY writes:
This is a general comment concerning the upcoming administration and Congress.
THEY ARE NOT GOING TO LISTEN TO ANYBODY !!
They are out to put us in an inflationary depression in order to reduce the opposition to their socialist agenda as well as a foreign policy of appeasement to make the formation of a civilian militaristic corps, i.e. “brownshirts”, seem more attractive as we will be fighting Islam in our own streets where the use of our real military isn’t allowed.
They will be operating so far out from the Constitution that any opposition from things like “talk radio” and conservative, and even some liberal, think tanks will be quickly squashed by the civilian corps to stop “hate speech”. These leaders will be placed in “re-education centers” to help them see the light. The people won’t come to their aid as they will be scrambling for food.
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE ELECTED A TYRANT ON THE ORDER OF MUSSOLINI AND STALIN !!
The peoples’ only hope is to convert their money to gold and pray that we still have elections in 2012 and that anyone is allowed to run against him and his party. If you want a template, look at the Hugo Chavez government in Venezuela. I know that Obama is looking through his buddy, Bill Ayres, who is in one of Hugo’s think-tanks.