Quote of the day 12th January 2015

"If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all"

(Noam Chomsky)

Comments

Chris Whiteside said…
Some people seem to be very slow to understand what freedom of speech and expression is.

For the avoidance of doubt, freedom of expression means that you should be free to express your views in conversation, or at a meeting you organise, or in a book or magazine you publish, or on your own blog or website, without being murdered for it, or prosecuted.

It does not mean that you should be forced to include my views on something which you as a private citizen are publishing, or that I should be forced to include yours. As it happens I do often allow people to post views I disagree with here, occasionally views I despise. That's my choice.

One the rare occasions where I do decide to block someone from expressing a view from putting it on this blog, that does not mean that I am interfering with their freedom of speech unless I also try to stop them setting up their own blog or website and expressing their views there.

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