Here in America, we’ve got a clear choice this November when it comes to free speech. On one side of the aisle, we’ve got a merciless autocrat who wants to use the full force of government to keep us from criticizing people in power. On the other side of the aisle, we’ve got another one just like her.
At least I still have a few more months to say stuff like that. In Europe, the battle is already over. Free speech lost.
A court in the German city of Hamburg on Tuesday banned the author of a poem lampooning Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from publicly reciting passages from his work.
The court ruled that only six lines of the 24-line poem by German comedian Jan Boehmermann could be recited, offering the Turkish leader a partial legal victory…
In Tuesday’s ruling the court found that “Erdogan does not have to put up with the expression of certain passages in view of their outrageous content attacking (his) honour.”
The court found that such material overstepped the boundaries of decency in attacking the Turkish leader.
In other words, a German citizen hurt a tyrant’s feelings, and the Germans have sided with the tyrant. Where have I heard this story before?
Meanwhile, in France (which isn’t part of Germany yet, and yes, you’re welcome), Reuters reports:
Three French anti-racism associations said on Sunday they would file legal complaints against social networks Facebook, Twitter and Google’s Youtube for failing to remove “hateful” content posted on their platforms.
French law requires websites to take down racist, homophobic or anti-semitic material and tell authorities about it.
Even though I’m a teabagger, I don’t like racism, homophobia, or anti-Semitism. I also don’t like people telling me what I can’t say and what I can’t read.
The first world has managed to solve a lot of problems, but we still can’t seem to solve the biggest one of all: keeping people from saying things we don’t like.
It’s a never-ending battle, but I’m confident that my countrymen will follow Europe’s lead. Hate speech isn’t free speech, and only a certain few should be able to decide what constitutes hate speech. The rest of us will have to fall in line.
How can we be truly free until we’re free from dissent?