Free Speech Under Fire In World Democracies

May 14. 2009

Jonathon Ross in trouble again

Another British DJ has come under fire for making a joke that is being branded hate speech against gays. Jonathan Ross stated, "If your son asks for a Hannah Montana MP3 player, you might want to already think about putting him down for adoption before he brings his...erm...partner home."

Anyone with half a brain (also know as the Britney Spears model of minds) should be able to laugh at that joke. However, 4, count'em, 4 people complained and that was enough to get a hate speech inquiry going, which if you ask me, is a waste of taxpayer money.

In most countries you can't get a fan club started with four people. You can't even get a group rate at a restaurant or for a concert or plane booking.

Fredrick Toben

In Australia a judge has sentenced a man to three months in prison for denying the Holocaust ever happened via his website. I am not in agreement with this judicial decision. I do believe the Holocaust happened. However, I do not believe in abridging free speech. 

I do not wish Britain and Australia any offense, but the composition and tenets of these hate speech laws are getting out of control. If this continues, true conversation will be an obsolete antiquity, with people scared to speak to anyone, for fear of getting arrested for hate speech.

Repressing speech is not going to work, as people will say what they wish in the privacy of their homes, at familial gatherings and in intimate social circles. Branding innocuous talk hate speech is not going to change opinions, but create resentment and hypocrisy, when people are forced to speak their minds behind closed doors.

Jonathan Ross in new row over 'homophobic comments' made on his Radio 2 show

Last updated at 2:27 AM on 14th May 2009 - Jonathan Ross suggested parents should put their sons up for adoption if they wanted a Hannah Montana MP3 player...

Ross was involved in a light-hearted discussion about prizes in a competition themed around the fictional teen pop star when he joked: ‘If your son asks for a Hannah Montana MP3 player, you might want to already think about putting him down for adoption before he brings his...erm...partner home.’...

A BBC spokeswoman said: ‘The BBC has received four complaints about Jonathan’s comments on Saturday’s show. ‘However, these off-the-cuff remarks were made purely in jest and were not intended to be offensive. ‘Jonathan is not homophobic in any sense and never meant for his comments to be taken seriously.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk

Holocaust denier whom Britain refused to extradite to Germany gets jail sentence in Australia for anti-Semitic website

Last updated at 12:08 AM on 14th May 2009 - Holocaust denier Fredrick Toben has been sentenced to three months in prison

An Australian who has denied the Holocaust occurred was sentenced to three months in prison today for defying an order to stop publishing anti-Semitic material on his website.

Fredrick Toben remained free after the sentencing, however, because the judge gave him two weeks to lodge an appeal.

Justice Bruce Lander of the Federal Court found Toben, 65, guilty of 24 counts of contempt of a 2002 court ruling that barred him from publishing anti-Semitic material on the website of his organisation, the Adelaide Institute.
The material found to be in breach of the order included suggestions the Holocaust did not happen, that questioned whether there were gas chambers at the Auschwitz death camp, and that challenged the intelligence of Jews who questioned Holocaust deniers' beliefs.

Toben said the ruling was a defeat for free speech...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk