Freedom of speech was too hard won to be cavalier now about censorship | Kenan Malik

f the great campaigners for free speech of the past, such as Baruch Spinoza or Mary Wollstonecraft or Frederick Douglass, were alive today, “they would surely declare the 21st century an unprecedented golden age”. So suggests Jacob Mchangama in hisIt’s a claim that might raise a few eyebrows. This, after all, is an age in which, from China to Saudi Arabia, dictatorial rulers imprison and kill political opponents with impunity.

Historically, the demand for free speech was at the heart of the fight for social justice. From the challenge posed by freethinkers in 10th-century Islam to the abolitionist struggle in 19th-century America, from the suffragette movement to campaigns for liberation from colonial rule, there has long been a recognition that democracy, social justice and free speech go hand in hand and that censorship was a weapon wielded by the powerful to stymie social change.

It’s not that difficult: if you’re in favour of restricting what people can say, you’re not in favour of free speech. People should really have the courage to admit they don’t believe in free speech rather than try to use doublespeak to justify their position

Bingo.

The abuse of such a freedom has resulted in the shitshow we have today. Provable lies and misinformation should not be allowed to continue as it is. Perpetual and deliberate pushers of such tainted 'speech' should not be protected by freedom of speech principles.

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