Wednesday, November 07, 2018
Laughable British "free" speech law
In his column for The Daily Telegraph, the former foreign secretary argues that the UK “needs a campaign for the right to make jokes and the right, within the law, to be satirical to the point of causing mild offence; because it is when you endlessly shush people up, and stifle debate, that extremism flourishes”.
What is the law on free speech?
Under Article 10 of the Human Rights Act 1998, “everyone has the right to freedom of expression” in the UK. But the law states that this freedom “may be subject to formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society”.
Those restrictions may be “in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary”.
SOURCE
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5 comments:
So, given all the restrictions, they don't actually have freedom of speech. What's the point of a law that nullifies itself?
The moment you want to protect everyone's feelings, free speech goes out the window.
How does curbing speech prevent disorder or crime?
Other than direct incitement, surely people can handle some speech without starting riots and looting?
This reflects a very paternalistic view of people.
Anon 8:14PM - Wrong. In Europe, the assumption that people "can handle some speech without starting riots and looting" is dead. That's why the EU just fined a woman who pointed out that Prophet Mohamed (damnation be upon him) married and slept with a prepubescent girl. Because such a statement leads to "breach of the religious peace." That is, some people can't handle truth, and the resulting cognitive dissonance manifests in violence....
Just like at many of our collage campuses having Free Speech Zones when the whole campus should be a Free Speech Zone and if liberal snowflakes feel offended then they can go pound sand
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