First Amendment Fetishists
According to this report, pointed out by Bill Quick, the Council of Europe has finally adopted the long-discussed measure to criminalize internet "hate speech," including "hyperlinks to pages that contain offensive content." There's an interesting exchange about differing attitudes about free speech in the Daily Pundit comment section.
Though I agree with them, of course, it seems to me that the champions of American-style free speech protection are presenting a scenario that may be a bit too rosy here. Bill points out in a comment/response that "many Americans think the civil liberties protections in the First go too far." That's true; it may even be that most Americans feel that way, and that exceptions should be made in this or that circumstance. We First Amendment absolutists are, as a practical matter, a minority in this country as well as in the world. It's a good thing we have a document, because, as Bill says, it's doubtful whether it would be adopted today.
Posted by Dr. Frank at November 10, 2002 10:09 AM | TrackBack