I happened to be listening to a radio broadcast when the news came up. One of the news pieces recounted how some minister, or whatever politician, had stated that free speech has diminished and is being restricted in Europe.
Hmm, interesting... I thought. Are they really reporting the opinions of a more conservative politician who is against all this regressive leftism and its anti-free-speech campaign?
However, as the news story progressed, that didn't seem to be the case. This minister had argued that free speech has diminished in Europe because there is so much anti-semitism and hate speech.
Hmm, that's strange, I thought. A bit of a strange argument to make against the restriction of free speech. Was he really blaming anti-hate-speech laws on anti-semitism and hate speech?
No. It turns out that he was not talking about anti-hate-speech laws. What he was saying is that the "anti-semitism" and "hate speech" itself is restricting free speech. As in, it intimidates people into silence.
While the news story didn't directly state it, I got the strong impression that, between the lines, he was implying that we need stricter anti-hate-speech laws in order to protect free speech.
If that's indeed what he was implying, it's the most Orwellian thing I have heard in a good while. We need to restrict free speech in order to protect free speech. Could it be any more double-think than that?
Hmm, interesting... I thought. Are they really reporting the opinions of a more conservative politician who is against all this regressive leftism and its anti-free-speech campaign?
However, as the news story progressed, that didn't seem to be the case. This minister had argued that free speech has diminished in Europe because there is so much anti-semitism and hate speech.
Hmm, that's strange, I thought. A bit of a strange argument to make against the restriction of free speech. Was he really blaming anti-hate-speech laws on anti-semitism and hate speech?
No. It turns out that he was not talking about anti-hate-speech laws. What he was saying is that the "anti-semitism" and "hate speech" itself is restricting free speech. As in, it intimidates people into silence.
While the news story didn't directly state it, I got the strong impression that, between the lines, he was implying that we need stricter anti-hate-speech laws in order to protect free speech.
If that's indeed what he was implying, it's the most Orwellian thing I have heard in a good while. We need to restrict free speech in order to protect free speech. Could it be any more double-think than that?
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